Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Sep;9(3):285-93.
doi: 10.4142/jvs.2008.9.3.285.

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

Joon Seok Chae  1 , Do Hyeon Yu, Smriti Shringi, Terry A Klein, Heung Chul Kim, Sung Tae Chong, In Yong Lee, Janet Foley
Affiliations

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

Joon Seok Chae et al. J Vet Sci. 2008 Sep.

Abstract

A total of 1,618 ticks [420 individual (adults) and pooled (larvae and nymphs) samples], 369 rodents (Apodemus agrarius, 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.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Collection sites were conducted in northern Gyeonggi-do near the Demilitarized Zone of Korea. The small black squares indicate sample collection sites.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Adelson ME, Rao RVS, Tilton RC, Cabets K, Eskow E, Fein L, Occi JL, Mordechai E. Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Bartonella spp. Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophila in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in northern New Jersey. J Clin Microbiol. 2004;42:2799–2801. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aguero-Rosenfeld ME, Wang G, Schwartz I, Wormser GP. Diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2005;18:484–509. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anderson BE, Sumner JW, Dawson JE, Tzianabos T, Greene CR, Olson JG, Fishbein DB, Olsen-Rasmussen M, Holloway BP, George EH, Azad AF. Detection of the etiologic agent of human ehrlichiosis by polymerase chain reaction. J Clin Microbiol. 1992;30:775–780. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barlough JE, Madigan JE, Derock E, Bigornia L. Nested polymerase chain reaction for detection of Ehrlichia equi genomic DNA in horses and ticks (Ixodes pacificus) Vet Parasitol. 1996;63:319–329. - PubMed
    1. Chae JS, Kim CM, Kim EH, Hur EJ, Klein TA, Kang TK, Lee HC, Song JW. Molecular epidemiological study for tick-borne disease (Ehrlichia and Anaplasma spp.) surveillance at selected U.S. military training sites/installations in Korea. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003;990:118–125. - PubMed

Publication types