Division of Infectious Disease Investigation, Health and Environment Research Institute of Gwangju, 584 Mugindae-ro, Seo-gu, Gwangju, 61954, Republic of Korea.
Sci Rep. 2024 May 29;14(1):12336. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-61126-y.
Hard ticks are known vectors of various pathogens, including the severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus, Rickettsia spp., Coxiella burnetii, Borrelia spp., Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Ehrlichia spp. This study aims to investigate the distribution and prevalence of tick-borne pathogens in southwestern Korea from 2019 to 2022. A total of 13,280 ticks were collected during the study period, with H. longicornis accounting for 86.1% of the collected ticks. H. flava, I. nipponensis and A. testudinarium comprised 9.4%, 3.6%, and 0.8% of the ticks, respectively. Among 983 pools tested, Rickettsia spp. (216 pools, 1.6% MIR) were the most prevalent pathogens across all tick species, with R. japonica and R. monacensis frequently detected in I. nipponensis and Haemaphysalis spp., respectively. Borrelia spp. (28 pools, 0.2% MIR) were predominantly detected in I. nipponensis (27 pools, 13.8% MIR, P < 0.001). Co-infections, mainly involving Rickettsia monacensis and Borrelia afzelii, were detected in I. nipponensis. Notably, this study identified R. monacensis for the first time in A. testudinarium in South Korea. These findings offer valuable insights into the tick population and associated pathogens in the region, underscoring the importance of tick-borne disease surveillance and prevention measures.
硬蜱是多种病原体的已知载体，包括严重发热伴血小板减少综合征病毒、立克次体属、贝纳柯克斯体、巴尔通体属、嗜吞噬细胞无形体和埃立克体属。本研究旨在调查 2019 年至 2022 年韩国西南部的蜱传病原体分布和流行情况。在研究期间共收集了 13280 只蜱，其中长角血蜱占收集蜱的 86.1%。日本革蜱、全沟硬蜱和亚洲璃眼蜱分别占 9.4%、3.6%和 0.8%。在检测的 983 个蜱样中，立克次体属（216 个样，1.6% MIR）是所有蜱种中最流行的病原体，日本立克次体和 monacensis 立克次体在日本革蜱和全沟硬蜱中频繁检出。巴尔通体属（28 个样，0.2% MIR）主要在日本革蜱中检出（27 个样，13.8% MIR，P<0.001）。日本革蜱中主要检测到立克次体属和伯氏疏螺旋体的混合感染。值得注意的是，本研究首次在韩国的亚洲璃眼蜱中发现了 monacensis 立克次体。这些发现为该地区的蜱种群和相关病原体提供了有价值的见解，强调了蜱传疾病监测和预防措施的重要性。
