Epidemiology of sfts virus from ticks and animals in the republic of Korea

Except for human data on severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) infection, the first detection of SFTSV antigen was reported in a tick collected from vegetation in 2014 and the first SFTSV isolate derived from tick was identified in 2016. The range of SFTSV minimum field infection rate (MFIR) for ticks collected from vegetation in the Republic of Korea (ROK) was 0.10%~0.46% and similar to that (0.2%) in China. In addition, the SFTSV antigen was detected in ticks collected from wild mammals and reptiles and the infection rate (IR) of SFTSV were 4.98% and 3.57%, respectively. In animals, SFTSV was detected from sera of dogs, cats, Korean water deer, and wild boars. The range of infection rate of SFTSV antigen and antibody were 0.23-17.46% and 6.59-13.85%, respectively. These studies including human data indicate that the ROK is an endemic area as well as China and Japan and SFTSV is circulating among several species of animals and ticks throughout ROK. However, the natural cycle of SFTSV has not yet been established. Therefore, further studies should be conducted to investigate the surveillance of SFTSV in various animals and to monitor the prevalence of SFTSV in natural environment steadily.