Circulation of tick-borne pathogens in wildlife of the Republic of Korea
Hye-ryung Byun,
Seong-Ryeong Ji,
Jun-Gu Kang,
Chang-Yong Choi,
Ki-Jeong Na,
Jong-Taek Kim,
Joon-Seok Chae
Affiliations
Hye-ryung Byun
Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, BK21 FOUR Future Veterinary Medicine Leading Education and Research Centre, Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
Seong-Ryeong Ji
Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, BK21 FOUR Future Veterinary Medicine Leading Education and Research Centre, Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
Jun-Gu Kang
Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54531, Republic of Korea
Chang-Yong Choi
Research Institute of Agriculture and Life Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Bioresources, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea
Ki-Jeong Na
Laboratory of Veterinary Laboratory Medicine and Wildlife Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju 28644, Republic of Korea; The Wildlife Center of Chungbuk, Cheongju 28116, Republic of Korea
Jong-Taek Kim
College of Veterinary Medicine and Institute of Veterinary Science, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea; Gangwon Wildlife Medical Rescue Center, Chuncheon 24341, Republic of Korea
Joon-Seok Chae
Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, BK21 FOUR Future Veterinary Medicine Leading Education and Research Centre, Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 08826, Republic of Korea; Corresponding author.
Habitat loss of wildlife and increased human activities in their habitat provide more opportunities for human-wild animal contact. These artificial environments influence humans by facilitating the transmission of tick-borne pathogens. Therefore, we aimed to detect and understand circulating tick-borne pathogens in the natural environment by analyzing blood and spleen samples of wild animals admitted to wildlife rescue centers in the Republic of Korea. In total, 376 samples were collected from 355 rescued wild animals immediately after their arrival or death. After DNA deoxyribonucleic acid and RNA extractions, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and nested PCR were conducted to detect target tick-borne pathogens. This study detected six positive samples of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV), 146 Anaplasma phagocytophilum, 55 Anaplasma bovis, 19 Rickettsia spp., 45 Borrelia theileri, and 4 Bartonella schoenbuchensis. Among the positive samples, SFTSV was detected in one spleen sample from a Korean water deer, from which SFTSV was successfully isolated. After full genome sequencing, the L, M, and S segments all belonged to genotype B-3 and indicated 99.84 % ∼ 99.94 % similarity with SFTSV isolated from human serum. In conclusion, wild animals are potential reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens. Therefore, surveillance systems to prevent transmission among ticks, animals, and humans must be developed using the One Health concept.