J Vet Sci.  2008 Sep;9(3):285-293. 10.4142/jvs.2008.9.3.285.

Microbial pathogens in ticks, rodents and a shrew in northern Gyeonggi-do near the DMZ, Korea

• Chae JS
• Yu DH
• Shringi S
• Klein TA
• Kim HC
• Chong ST
• Lee IY
• Foley J

• KMID: 1718582
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4142/jvs.2008.9.3.285

Abstract

A total of 1,618 ticks [420 individual (adults) and pooled (larvae and nymphs) samples], 369 rodents (Apodemus arius, Rattus norvegicus, Tscherskia triton, Mus musculus, and Myodes regulus), and 34 shrews (Crocidura lasiura) that were collected in northern Gyeonggi-do near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of Korea during 2004-2005, were assayed by PCR for selected zoonotic pathogens. From a total of 420 individual and pooled tick DNA samples, Anaplasma (A.) phagocytophilum (16), A. platys (16), Ehrlichia (E.) chaffeensis (63), Borrelia burgdorferi (16), and Rickettsia spp. (198) were detected using species-specific PCR assays. Out of 403 spleens from rodents and shrews, A. phagocytophilum (20), A. platys (34), E. chaffeensis (127), and Bartonella spp. (24) were detected with species-specific PCR assays. These results suggest that fevers of unknown causes in humans and animals in Korea should be evaluated for infections by these vector-borne microbial pathogens.

Keyword

Bartonella; Borrelia; Rickettsia; rodents; Crocidura lasiura; tick-borne pathogens

MeSH Terms

Anaplasma phagocytophilum/genetics/isolation & purification
Animals
Biological Warfare
DNA, Bacterial/genetics/isolation & purification
Ehrlichiosis/transmission/veterinary
Humans
Korea
Mice/*microbiology
Rats/*microbiology
Seasons
Shrews/*microbiology
Ticks/*microbiology
Zoonoses

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Collection sites were conducted in northern Gyeonggi-do near the Demilitarized Zone of Korea. The small black squares indicate sample collection sites.

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