Serological evidence of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in South Korea, 2015-2018

Jeong Rae Yoo; Jung Hwan Oh; Keun Hwa Lee; Sung Wook Song

doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101408

Serological evidence of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in South Korea, 2015-2018

Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2020 May;11(3):101408. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101408. Epub 2020 Feb 22.

Authors

Jeong Rae Yoo¹, Jung Hwan Oh², Keun Hwa Lee³, Sung Wook Song⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Jeju National University, College of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Jeju, South Korea.
² Department of Neurology, Jeju National University, College of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Jeju, South Korea.
³ Department of Microbiology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Jeju National University, College of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Jeju, South Korea. Electronic address: sungwook78@gmail.com.

PMID: 32107175
DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101408

Abstract

No human cases of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) have been reported in South Korea. We tested for TBE virus (TBEV)-IgM and -IgG in serum samples from healthy farmers during 2015-2018 using ELISA kits. Seroprevalence study revealed a 1.9 % prevalence of TBEV. A neutralizing test for TBEV-specific antibodies was not performed.

Keywords: Seroprevalence; South Korea; Tick-borne encephalitis; Tick-borne encephalitis virus.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aged
Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / epidemiology*
Farmers / statistics & numerical data
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Prevalence
Republic of Korea / epidemiology
Seroepidemiologic Studies