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Abstract. Murine typhus (etiologic agent: Rickettsia typhi) is endemic to Indonesia, especially on the highly populated island of Java. A survey of rodents from Irian Jaya, the eastern-most province of Indonesia, indicated striking geographic variation in risk factors associated with murine typhus. Murid rodents (n ‫ס‬ 112) collected from two villages in the Arso district of northeastern Irian Jaya, were found to be free of ectoparasites normally associated with transmission of R. typhi (i.e., Xenopsylla cheopis). All rodents (n ‫ס‬ 72) tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were negative for antibodies to R. typhi, whereas 12.5% (9/72) were positive for antibodies to Orienta tsutsugamushi. In contrast, both Rattus norvegicus and R. rattus (combined n ‫ס‬ 87) from the harbor area of the provincial capital, Jayapura, were infested with flea ectoparasites. X. cheopis was found on 31 (35.6%) of the live-captured rodents. Serum samples from nine of 82 rodents contained antibodies reactive to R. typhi (11.0%). These data show for the first time that rodents exposed to R. typhi are well established in Jayapura, and that some of these rodents harbor fleas potentially capable of transmitting murine typhus and plague.

The causative agents of scrub and murine typhus are considered endemic to Indonesia. However, the presence of spotted fever group rickettsiae and ehrlichiae have not been previously described in this country. During an investigation of arthropod-borne diseases on Gag Island, located northwest of the island of New Guinea in eastern Indonesia, the prevalence of antibody to the etiologic agents of monocytic ehrlichiosis, spotted fever rickettsiosis, and scrub and murine typhus were determined. Analysis of 55 blood samples from residents of Gag Island showed seroreactivity to antigen preparations of Ehrlichia chaffeensis (7 of 48, 14.6%), two spotted fever group rickettsiae: Rickettsia rickettsii (5 of 48, 10.4%) and R. conorii (10 of 49, 20.4%), Orientia tsutsugamushi (5 of 53, 9.4%), and R. typhi (1 of 48, 2.1% [by an indirect immunofluorescence assay] and 1 of 50, 2.0% [by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay]). These results show serologic evidence of infection with ehrlichiae and spotted fever group rickettsiae for the first time in Indonesia in a location where the prevalence of antibody to O. tsutsugamushi and R. typhi was lower.

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