Isolation of tick-borne encephalitis viruses from wild rodents, South Korea.
To determine whether the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) is present in vector ticks and mammalian hosts in Korea, we examined two tick species, Haemaphysalis longicornis (n = 548) and Ixodes nipponensis (n = 87), and the lungs or spleens of rodents Apodemus agrarius (n = 24) and wild boars (n = 16). Tick-borne encephalitis virus was detected in samples by reverse transcriptase (RT)-nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR), after which TBEV-positive samples were inoculated into BHK-21 cells and suckling mice. Tick-borne encephalitis virus genes were detected in 4 of 38 tick pools and 5 of 24 wild rodents. Suckling mice inoculated intracerebrally with TBEV-positive rodent samples showed signs of encephalitis at six days post-inoculation. The isolation of TBEV was confirmed by inoculating samples obtained from the brains of sick mice in cell culture. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the E genes of the TBEV isolates were clustered with the Western subtype (98% identity). This study suggests the possible occurrence of tick-borne encephalitis in Korea.
Kim
Su-Yeon
SY
Division of Arboviruses, Center for Immunology & Pathology, National Institute of Health, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Eunpyung-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Yun
Seok-Min
SM
Han
Myung Guk
MG
Lee
In Yong
IY
Lee
Na Yeon
NY
Jeong
Young Eui
YE
Lee
Byeong Cheol
BC
Ju
Young Ran
YR
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000821:virology; D001096:Arachnid Vectors / Q000821:virology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004669:Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004675:Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D018884:Ixodes / Q000821:virology; D007723:Korea; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D051189:Murinae / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D034421:Sus scrofa / Q000821:virology*; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology; D013987:Ticks / Q000821:virology*