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. 2015 Oct;53(5):653-9.
doi: 10.3347/kjp.2015.53.5.653. Epub 2015 Oct 29.

Detection of Tick-Borne Pathogens in the Korean Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) from Jeonbuk Province, Korea

Giyong Seong  1 , Yu-Jung Han  1 , Sung-Suck Oh  2 , Joon-Seok Chae  2 , Do-Hyeon Yu  3 , Jinho Park  4 , Bae-Keun Park  5 , Jae-Gyu Yoo  6 , Kyoung-Seong Choi  1
Affiliations

Detection of Tick-Borne Pathogens in the Korean Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) from Jeonbuk Province, Korea

Giyong Seong et al. Korean J Parasitol. 2015 Oct.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in the Korean water deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus). Pathogens were identified using PCR which included Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, Rickettsia, and Theileria. Rickettsia was not detected, whereas Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Theileria infections were detected in 4, 2, and 8 animals, respectively. The most prevalent pathogen was Theileria. Of the 8 Theileria-positive animals, 2 were mixed-infected with 3 pathogens (Anaplasma, Ehrlichia, and Theileria) and another 2 animals showed mixed-infection with 2 pathogens (Anaplasma and Theileria). Sequencing analysis was used to verify the PCR results. The pathogens found in this study were identified as Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia canis, and Theileria sp. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report identifying these 3 pathogens in the Korean water deer. Our results suggest that the Korean water deer may serve as a major reservoir for these tick-borne pathogens, leading to spread of tick-borne diseases to domestic animals, livestock, and humans. Further studies are needed to investigate their roles in this respect.

Keywords: Anaplasma; Ehrlichia; Korean water deer; Theileria; reservoir; tick-borne pathogen.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA genes of Anaplasma phagocytophilum identified in Korean water deer. The red-faced box indicates the sequence determined in this study. Bootstrapping was carried out using 1,000 replications.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA genes of Ehrlichia canis identified in Korean water deer. The red-faced box indicates the sequence determined in this study. Bootstrapping was carried out using 1,000 replications.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Phylogenetic analysis based on the alignment of 18S rRNA gene sequences of Theileria sp. detected in Korean water deer, together with previously registered sequences from Theileria sp. The unrooted phylogenetic tree was constructed using neighbor-joining method. Bootstrapping was carried out using 1,000 replications. The 18S rRNA gene sequences identified in this study are shown in red-faced type.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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