title: Isolation of tick-borne encephalitis viruses from wild rodents, South Korea.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Division of Arboviruses, Center for Immunology & Pathology, National Institute of Health, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Eunpyung-Gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Su-Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seok-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Myung Guk
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: In Yong
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Na Yeon
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Eui
authors.initials: YE
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Byeong Cheol
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Young Ran
authors.initials: YR
authors.lastname: Ju
mesh_terms: 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*