Shimla, Sept. 2 -- As many as 24 confirmed cases of scrub typhus have been reported in Shimla district during the ongoing monsoon season, prompting the Health Department to issue an advisory urging people to take precautionary measures.

Shimla Chief Medical Officer, Yash Pal Ranta, advised residents to remain vigilant against the disease, which is transmitted through the bite of infected larval mites commonly found in areas with bushes, grass, fields and dense vegetation.

Scrub typhus commonly causes symptoms such as fever, severe headache, body aches, chills, weakness, rash and swollen lymph nodes. In some cases, patients may also develop an eschar, a dark, scab-like lesion at the site of the mite bite.

The CMO advised people to avoid...