FOREWORD It is an honour for me to have the opportunity and Nad has become knowledgable at the to write a few words in appreciation of professional level in a wide range of areas, Scientist Nadchatram’s life and work. I hope which he demonstrates in this report. He sets he will agree to my using the appellation forth in clear fashion the fundamentals of “Nad” for him. It is a term of friendship and Acari-related conditions, including rickettsiae respectful address used by his numerous (notably scrub typhus), viral diseases, and friends overseas. Our association began in conditions caused directly by acarines (such 1963 with my joining the staff of the George as tick bite and scabies in its zoonotic form). W. Hooper Foundation (HF) at the University He was a participant in most of the research of California Medical Centre in San Francisco. carried out in his own country, so that he is Director J. Ralph Audy, who hired me, had able to write of it with familiarity and previously been at the Institute of Medical authority. It should be obvious that this report Research (IMR) as Head of the Division of will be of unusual value to anyone concerned Virus Research and Medical Zoology and, as with research in medical zoology in Malaysia. Nad relates in his historical summation of However, I would emphasise that medical scrub typhus research, that led to a zoologists anywhere in the world can benefit collaborative program between HF and IMR. from it. Many of my associates spent one to several I was pleased to read of two topics that years at IMR (or the University of Singapore), Dr. Nadchatram covers and to learn of but it was not my good fortune to do so. government programs in Malaysia that have However, in subsequently working at the begun to address them. These are conservation Bishop Museum in Hawaii, I was able to go of natural resources and the abatement of to Papua New Guinea on repeated occasions, global warming. Few countries have addressed and thereby work on the verterbrates and their these problems adequately, but it is well that parasites of a tropical forest fauna similar to there is an awareness of the need to do so. that studied by Dr. Nadchatram in Malaysia. Other than scientist, a term that describes While not wanting to suggest that my Dr. Nadchatram is naturalist. I wonder if accomplishments attained the high level of his, anyone can do justice to field research in I do wish to note parallels in our experience. biology who does not have the appreciation of When I first went to Hawaii in the summer of nature that is suggested by the second term. 1969, it was Nad, completing studies there Nad’s feelings on one occasion, recalled after under a grant, who showed me many of the 40 years, are expressed here as delight in the high points. In this report, he notes 14 now beauty and complexity of untrammeled nature deceased scientists whose research in when rambling “in the park like primary forest Malaysia should be recognized; I was interspersed with tall trees forming the canopy interested and slightly surprised to recognize high above.” that all but a couple of them had significant Anything more that might be said is interactions with my own career. presented in the work that follows, as written The term scientist is used above, and it is by Dr. M. Nadchatram. I advise you to read, particularly fitting for Dr. Nadchatram. It profit, and enjoy. derives from science, meaning “knowledge”, Frank J. Radovsky Department of Zoology Oregon State University Corvallis, Oregon, USA (Formerly Chairman, Department of Entomology, B.P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii and editor in-chief, Journal Medical Entomology) 1 THE AUTHOR M. Nadchatram is a retired Entomologist with Nadchatram’s name is commemorated in 15 some 40 years experience in the study of biological taxa. medical acarology. He began his foray into Nadchatram was also a Research Fellow the world of parasitic ticks and mites in 1948 at the Department of Entomology, B.P. Bishop when he joined the Institute for Medical Museum, Hawaii, U.S.A. from 1967 to 1969; Research (IMR) as a laboratory technologist. and a part-time consultant on vector biology During this time at IMR, he had the for the World Health Organisation. In addition, opportunity to participate in a number of he has served as senior lecturer on applied zoological expeditions in the Asia Pacific parasitology and entomology as well as region, including Nepal, Papua New Guinea, ectoparasite biology to post-graduate students Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and his own country, from SEAMEO (Southeast Asian Ministers of Malaysia. In 1976, Nadchatram was appointed Education Organisation) countries from 1970 Entomologist at IMR and was the Founding to 1981. Head of the Division of Acarology, retiring in His academic achievements include December 1982. On retirement from IMR, he graduating with distinction in general, medical was appointed Senior Teaching Fellow in the and veterinary acarology from the University Faculty of Science, University of Singapore of Maryland, College Park, U.S.A. He is also for six years from 1983 to 1988. a public health and entomology graduate of Inspired and motivated by his revered University of Hawaii, Honolulu. guru, Dr J. Ralph Audy, Nadchatram made Nadchatram is a founder member and was numerous scientific contributions and president of the Malaysian Society of discoveries of ecological and epidemiological Parasitology and Tropical Medicine importance in medical acarology. The results (MSPTM). He was awarded the Sandosham of his original scientific work in some 160 Gold Medal in 1980. In 2007, the MSPTM publications were accepted and published in unanimously elected him its Honorary several international journals, mostly in the Member. Journal of Medical Entomology, before he was Aged 80 years, his message to the younger promoted to a position of entomologist in generation of Malaysian scientists is that 1976. His work ranged from systematics and communication and net-working with ecology, to conservation of natural resources. colleagues should be regarded as a functional Held in high regard by his peers overseas, part of research. 2 THE BENEFICIAL RAIN FOREST ECOSYSTEM, WITH ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS ON ZOONOSES INVOLVING TICKS AND MITES (ACARI), A MALAYSIAN PERSPECTIVE AND REVIEW M. NADCHATRAM Formerly Entomologist and Founding Head, Division of Acarology, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Email: [email protected] Abstract. Ticks and mites are second only to mosquitos in importance as vectors of human infectious diseases. This paper reviews recorded information on zoonotic infections based primarily on studies conducted in Malaysia since 1948, but with some attempt at a global perspective. The tropical rain forest ecosystem is reviewed. The paper summarizes some 35 years of studies on the involvement of ticks and mites in human health and welfare in Malaysia. This is also an attempt to introduce the field to those who may be interested, in view of our limited knowledge relative to the importance of these vectors, and their potential of transmitting newly emerging diseases that may be introduced to the country. Tropical rain forest is a stable environment. Though Acari-borne zoonotic diseases evolved in the forest, infections are manifested through the alterations mostly by man-made activities. The parasitic Acari have preferred environmental conditions and biotopes that determine their distribution in nature, particularly within the tropical rain forest and consequently the environmentally altered areas that are the source of greatest risk for diseases. Acarines also vary in their vector potential. This article reviews the biology and ecology of all those species known to have zoonotic importance. Zoonosis in this paper refers not only to diseases that are transmitted from animals to man, but also those parasites of animals that cause dermatitis and other skin conditions in humans. This paper documents all Acari-borne zoonoses and distinguishes between those caused by viruses and those caused by rickettsiae. Emphasis is placed on Langat Virus, a tick-borne virus discovered and documented in Malaysia, with notes on the life-history and ecology of the vector Ixodes granulatus from which Langat virus was first isolated. Another tick-borne virus, the Lanjan virus was also isolated from Dermacentor “auratus” at the IMR. The paper mentions three other viral infections that have been isolated in Malaysia from ticks, vertebrate reservoirs or both. The tick-borne rickettsial infection, boutonneuse fever is reviewed. The distribution is given for Q-fever, a disease caused by a pathogenic agent that is rickettsia-like. Information to clarify the status of Dermacentor ticks, human tick bites, and the presence of questing ticks on vegetation are also given. Tick-caused human otoacariasis in Malaysia and elsewhere is discussed, with notes on terminology. Based on a report by Induharan et al., tick paralysis is believed to occur in Malaysia. The potential importance and introduction of Lyme disease to Malaysia is discussed. The epidemiology and ecology of scrub typhus and its vectors is reviewed, including the colourful history of its study at the Institute for Medical Research (IMR). Scabies is now recognized 3 as a zoonosis and the condition is described. Sarcoptid mites are suspected to represent more than one species. Scrub-itch and dermatitis caused by chigger mites, macronyssid mites and astigmatid mites are discussed. The importance of birds and bats in the dispersal of parasites is discussed. As examples of classical Acari-borne zoonoses, a viral disease from India and a rickettsial disease from America are briefly described. The elucidations of the natural history of these tick-borne diseases are described as epics of biomedical history. Though the essence of this paper is on environmental effects of zoonoses caused by ticks and mites, the environment in relation to human welfare and diseases is also discussed.