Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus in Dogs, South Korea

Abstract

Of 103 serum samples collected from dogs in South Korea, 3 (2.9%) were positive for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) and 22 (21.4%) were positive for antibodies against SFTSV. A dog-derived isolate of SFTSV clustered with many South Korea SFTSV strains in the Japanese clade.

Keywords: South Korea; dogs; phleboviruses; reverse transcription PCR; severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus; ticks; vector-borne infections; viruses.

Figure

Phylogenetic analysis of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus isolated from a military dog in South Korea (dog 22, bold) compared with reference viruses, based on the complete small segment. Evolutionary history was inferred using the maximum-likelihood method, based on the Kimura 2-parameter model (1,000 bootstrap replicates). The percentage of trees in which associated taxa clustered is shown next to the branches. The clades are designated by Japanese group. Scale bar indicates nucleotide substitutions per position.