Isolation of Mycobacterium bovis from Free-Ranging Wildlife in South Korea.
We demonstrate Mycobacterium bovis infection in wild boar ( Sus scrofa ) in South Korea. During 2012-15, we attempted to isolate M. bovis from 847 wild animals, mainly Korean water deer ( Hydropotes inermis argyropus), raccoon dogs ( Nyctereutes procyonoides ), and wild boar, from 11 regions in South Korea. We isolated M. bovis from three of 118 wild boar (2.5%) captured in Gyeonggi Province, where bovine tuberculosis (bTB) outbreaks have also occurred in livestock. Spoligotypes and mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units-variable number tandem repeats types of these M. bovis isolates (SB0140 and SB1040, 4-2-3-3-7-5-5-4-4-3-4-3 and 5-2-3-3-7-5-5-4-3-10-5-2; MIRU4, MIRU16, MIRU27, MIRU31, ETR-A, ETR-B, ETR-C, QUB11b, QUB26, QUB3336, VNTR2401, and VNTR3171) have also been identified from farmed livestock such as cattle ( Bos taurus coreanae), Formosan sika deer ( Cervus nippon taiouanus), and American elk ( Cervus canadensis ) in the country. In South Korea, bTB appears to be endemic in livestock, and there are numerous opportunities for contact between wild boar and livestock due to high population densities and broad activity ranges. Our results support the hypothesis that M. bovis is transmitted between domestic and wild animals.
1 Bacterial Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, 175 Anyang-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 430-757, South Korea.
Yunho
Y
Jang
1 Bacterial Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, 175 Anyang-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 430-757, South Korea.
Soyoon
S
Ryoo
1 Bacterial Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, 175 Anyang-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 430-757, South Korea.
Hyunkyoung
H
Lee
1 Bacterial Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, 175 Anyang-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 430-757, South Korea.
Narae
N
Kim
2 Conservation Genome Resource Bank for Korean Wildlife and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-742, South Korea.
Hang
H
Lee
3 Gyeonggido Northern Livestock & Veterinary Service, North-Branch, 271 Biryoung-ro, Hwado-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do 472-841, South Korea.
So-Young
SY
Park
3 Gyeonggido Northern Livestock & Veterinary Service, North-Branch, 271 Biryoung-ro, Hwado-eup, Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do 472-841, South Korea.
Woong-Seog
WS
Song
4 Section of Wildlife Internal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kangwon National University, 1 Gangwondaehak-gil, Chuncheon-si, Gangwon-do 201-100, South Korea.
Jong-Taek
JT
Kim
1 Bacterial Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, 175 Anyang-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 430-757, South Korea.
Hee Soo
HS
Lee
1 Bacterial Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, 175 Anyang-ro, Manan-gu, Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do 430-757, South Korea.
Jae
J
Myung Kim
D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild; D002417:Cattle; D003670:Deer / Q000378:metabolism*; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D056910:Republic of Korea; D014376:Tuberculosis; D014380:Tuberculosis, Bovine
Bovine tuberculosis; MIRU-VNTR typing; Mycobacterium bovis; spoligotyping; wild boar; wildlife