title: Molecular and serologic survey of Orientia tsutsugamushi infection among field rodents in southern Cholla Province, Korea.
abstract: Field rodents were collected from six areas in southern Cholla Province, Korea from October to December 1993. Twenty-eight (24%) of the 119 Apodemus agrarius were seropositive (> 1:10) for Orientia tsutsugamushi by the passive hemagglutination assay (PHA). Of the seropositive cases, 11 specimens had antibody titers greater than 1:80. No seropositive specimens were found among the eight Crocidura lasiura collected. On the other hand, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified about 520 basepairs of a gene encoding the 56-kD protein from the genomic DNA of 12 strains of O. tsutsugamushi tested. This target DNA sequence was amplified from the 11 (8.7%) blood specimens of A. agrarius, and one of the eight C. lasiura also showed evidence of O. tsutsugamushi infection by PCR. Only one of the PCR-positive samples was also PHA-positive. These results suggest that the PCR combined with a serologic assay more accurately detects the degree of infection of rodents with rickettsiae-causing scrub typhus in epidemiologic surveys.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Division, Health and Environment Institute of Chollanam-do, Kwangiu, Korea.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Seong
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Huh
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kee
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: I S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004587:Electrophoresis, Agar Gel / Q000662:veterinary; D006386:Hemagglutination Tests / Q000662:veterinary; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012285:Orientia tsutsugamushi / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012377:Rodentia; D012612:Scrub Typhus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial