J Vet Sci.  2011 Dec;12(4):373-377. 10.4142/jvs.2011.12.4.373.

Serosurveillance for Japanese encephalitis virus in wild birds captured in Korea

• Yang DK
• Oh YI
• Kim HR
• Lee YJ
• Moon OK
• Yoon H
• Kim B
• Lee KW
• Song JY

• KMID: 1365021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2011.12.4.373

Abstract

Climate change induced by recent global warming may have a significant impact on vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. For example, the distribution of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) has expanded into new regions. We surveyed the levels of hemagglutination-inhibition (HI) antibodies against JEV (Family Flaviviridae, genus Flavivirus) in wild birds captured in Korea. Blood samples were collected from 1,316 wild birds including the following migratory birds: Oceanodroma castro (n = 4), Anas formosa (n = 7), Anas penelope (n = 20), Fulica atra (n = 30), Anas acuta (n = 89), Anas crecca (n = 154), Anas platyrhynchos (n = 214), Aix galericulata (n = 310), and Anas poecilorhyncha (n = 488). All were captured in 16 locations in several Korea provinces between April 2007 and December 2009. Out of the 1,316 serum samples tested, 1,141 (86.7%) were positive for JEV. Wild birds captured in 2009 had a higher seroprevalence of ant-JEV antibodies than those captured in 2007. Wild birds with an HI antibody titer of 1 : 1,280 or higher accounted for 21.2% (280/1,316) of the animals tested. These findings indicated that wild birds from the region examined in our study have been exposed to JEV and may pose a high risk for introducing a new JEV genotype into Korea.

Keyword

Japanese encephalitis virus; serosurveillance; wild bird

MeSH Terms

Animal Migration
Animals
Animals, Wild
Bird Diseases/*epidemiology/virology
Birds
Encephalitis Virus, Japanese/genetics/*isolation & purification
Encephalitis, Japanese/blood/epidemiology/*veterinary/virology
Genotype
Hemagglutination Inhibition Tests
Population Surveillance
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Seroepidemiologic Studies

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Frequency of the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titer distribution among wild birds which were positive for Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) between 2007 and 2009.

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  Fig. 2 Average HI titer against JEV according to year.

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