All of the following statements about scrub typhus are true, EXCEPT:

The nymphal and adult mites do not feed on veebral host but instead exists as free living forms in the soil. It is the larva (chigger) which feed on the veebral hosts and pick up the rickettsiae. The scrub typhus is caused by R. tsutsugamushi and the true reservoir is trombiculid mite. Tetracycline is the drug of choice with the use of which the moality is nil. Ref: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 19th Edition, Page 251; Harrison Textbook of Internal Medicine, 17th Edition, Page 1064; Ananthnarayan Textbook of Microbiology, 7th Edition, Page 416.