Epidemiological Characteristics of Field Tick-Borne Pathogens in Gwang-ju Metropolitan Area, South Korea, from 2014 to 2018

• Published in: Osong public health and research perspectives Vol. 11; no. 4; pp. 177 - 184
• Main Authors: Park, Jung Wook, Lee, Seung Hun, Lee, Gi Seong, Seo, Jin Jong, Chung, Jae Keun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 01.08.2020; Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency; 질병관리본부
• Subjects: borrelia; Original; phylogeny; rickettsia; tick; 예방의학; borrelia; phylogeny; rickettsia; Anaplasma; tick
• ISSN: 2210-9099; 2233-6052; 2210-9110
• DOI: 10.24171/j.phrp.2020.11.4.06

The importance of tick-borne diseases is increasing because of climate change, with a lack of long-term studies on tick-borne pathogens in South Korea. To understand the epidemiological characteristics of tick-borne diseases, the monthly distribution of field ticks throughout the year was studied in South Korea between May 2014 and April 2018 in a cross sectional study. The presence of various tick-borne pathogens ( species, species, ) was confirmed by using polymerase chain reaction, to provide information for a prevention strategy against tick-borne pathogenic infections, through increased understanding of the relationship between seasonal variation and risk of infection with species. This was performed using logistic regression analysis (SPSS 20, IBM, USA) of the data obtained from the study. During the study period there were 11,717 ticks collected and 4 species identified. was the most common species ( = 10,904, 93.1%), followed by ( = 656, 5.6%), ( = 151, 1.3%), and ( = 6, 0.05%) The results of this cross-sectional study showed that carried a higher risk of transmission of species than other tick species ( < 0.05). In conclusion, due attention should be paid to preventing tick-borne infections in humans whilst engaged in outdoor activities in Spring and Autumn, particularly in places where there is a high prevalence of ticks.