Human resource development in environmental health for Palau--a model program for Micronesia and the Pacific.

In Palau, prior to 1997, the highest degree qualification in Sanitation Division (now called Division of Environmental Health) under the Bureau of Public Health, Ministry of Health, was a Diploma in Environmental Health from the Fiji School of Medicine. By September 2003, during an Environmental Health Planning and Management Workshop (NEHAP), Human Resource Development (HRD) was declared as a priority area and therefore was incorporated into the Palau National Environmental Health Action Plan. The Palau NEHAP HRD goal is to develop a human resource development plan for environmental health, which builds a career ladder with incentives.

Scrub typhus, Republic of Palau.

Scrub typhus, caused by Orientia tsutsugamushi, is a severe febrile illness transmitted to humans by trombiculid mites, which normally feed on rodents. The first known outbreak of scrub typhus in Palau occurred in 2001 to 2003 among residents of the remote southwest islands. To determine the extent of scrub typhus distribution in Palau, we tested serum samples from humans and rodents for antibodies to O.