Korean J Parasitol.  2022 Feb;60(1):65-71. 10.3347/kjp.2022.60.1.65.

Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus in Ticks in the Republic of Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University, Iksan 54531, Korea
  • 2Laboratory of Veterinary Internal Medicine, BK21 FOUR Future Veterinary Medicine Leading Education and Research Center, Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea
  • 3National Institute of Wildlife Disease Control and Prevention, Gwangju 62407, Korea

Abstract

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a zoonotic, tick-borne RNA virus of the genus Bandavirus (Family Phenuiviridae), mainly reported in China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (Korea). For the purpose of this study, a total of 3,898 adult and nymphal ticks of species Haemaphysalis longicornis (94.2%), Haemaphysalis flava (5.0%), Ixodes nipponensis (0.8%), and 1 specimen of Ixodes ovatus, were collected from the Deogyusan National Park, Korea, between April 2016 and June 2018. A single-step reverse transcriptase–nested PCR was performed, targeting the S segment of the SFTSV RNA. Total infection rate (IR) of SFTSV in individual ticks was found to be 6.0%. Based on developmental stages, IR was 5.3% in adults and 6.0% in nymphs. The S segment sequences obtained from PCR were divided into 17 haplotypes. All haplotypes were phylogenetically clustered into clades B-2 and B-3, with 92.7% sequences in B-2 and 7.3% in B-3. These observations indicate that the Korean SFTSV strains were closer to the Japanese than the Chinese strains. Further epidemiological studies are necessary to better understand the characteristics of the Korean SFTSV and its transmission cycle in the ecosystem.

Keyword

severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus; tick; National Park; vegetation; Korea
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