The present study was performed to investigate the infection status with Clonorchis sinensis metacercariae (CsMc) in fishes from 2 sites, the middle and lower reaches, of Tamjin-gang (River) in Jeollanam-do, the Republic of Korea. Total 1,132 fishes in 22 species were collected from the middle reaches in Jangheung-gun for 4 years (2014–2017) and 517 fishes in 17 species were also collected from the lower reaches in Gangjin-gun in 2014 and 2017. They were all individually examined with the artificial digestion method in our laboratory. CsMc were detected in 322 (28.5%) out of 1,132 fishes from Jangheung-gun, and in 161 (31.1%) out of 517 fishes from Gangjin-gun, and their densities were 51 and 57 per fish infected each. In the fish species with CsMc, positive rates were 61.5% in Jangheung-gun and 62.7% in Gangjin-gun. A total of 222 Pungtungia herzi were examined and they were all infected with CsMc. The average intensity was 103 CsMc in the index fish, P. herzi (95 in Jangheung-gun and 121 in Gangjin-gun). In P. herzi bimonthly examined in 2017, the intensity was commonly most higher in March in 2 surveyed sites, however the significant seasonal endemicity was not showed. Conclusively, it was confirmed that CsMc is more or less prevalent in fishes from Tamjin-gang and their endemicity is higher in fish from the lower reaches in Gangjin-gun than the middle reaches in Jangheung-gun in Jeollanam-do, Korea.

Enterobacter aerogenes is recognized as an important bacterial pathogen in hospital-acquired infections. This report describes two unusual cases of septicemia caused by E. aerogenes in immunocompetent healthcare workers. E. aerogenes was isolated from blood cultures of the two patients experiencing septicemia. The clinical isolates were initially identified as E. aerogenes using a VITEK II automated system and 16S rRNA sequence analysis, and; both isolates involved in the outbreak shared a common pulse-field gel electrophoresis pattern. The similarities between the two cases included the simultaneous development of gastroenteritis symptoms, severe sepsis and thrombocytopenia after taking intravenous injections of ketorolac tromethamine. A common source of normal saline, a 100 mL bottle, was used for diluting the analgesic in both cases. In addition to the general population, healthcare workers, especially those who are also intravenous drug abusers, should be considered subjects that could cause a transmission of Enterobacter infection.

Seroepidemological investigation of antibodies to Legionella species in 500 healthy individuals from a single geographical location in Korea was conducted by indirect fluorescent antibody assay (IFA). Considering an antibody titer of > or =1:128 as positive reaction, 15.2% of total sera were positive. In males and females older than 40 years old, levels of IgM and IgG were 1.2% and 14%, respectively. The sera with antibody titers of > or =1:128 to Legionella species accounted for 85 sera, and 9 sera of these were reacted to more than one Legionella species. Reactivity to L. bozemanii, L. micdadei, L. longbeachae, L. pneumophila sg 6, and L. gormanii were 32.9%, 20%, 15%, 10.6%, and 8%, respectively. However, L. pneumophila sg 1, sg 2, and sg 3 did not react to any sera. Serological analysis revealed that the level of antibody in response to L. bozemanii was more prevalent than L. pneumophila. Our results suggest that the antibodies of non-L. pneumophila species, such as L. bozemanii, may be highly prevalent in healthy population within Korea. Although conclusions based on the findings of this study must be cautiously considered given that the population sampled were sourced from a single province, we have added to the knowledge base of serodiagnosis of infections due to non-L. pneumophila species in Korea.

A Gram-negative-staining, non-motile, non-spore-forming and strictly aerobic bacterial strain, SC35 T , was isolated from tidal flat sediment collected from the South Sea, Korea, and subjected to a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. The organism grew optimally at 20-30 6C and with 1-2 % (w/v) NaCl. Strain SC35 T contained ubiquinone-8 as the predominant respiratory lipoquinone and C 18 : 1 v9c as the major fatty acid. The DNA G+C content was 48.5 mol%. A phylogenetic tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SC35 T formed a lineage within the genus Psychrobacter (94.3-96.5 % sequence similarity), forming a distinct branch in a clade also containing Psychrobacter pacificensis NIBH P2K6 T and Psychrobacter celer SW-238 T . On the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic data, strain SC35 T (5KCTC 22503 T 5JCM 16343 T ) was placed in the genus Psychrobacter as the type strain of a novel species, for which the name Psychrobacter aestuarii sp. nov. is proposed.The genus Psychrobacter was first described by Juni & Heym (1986) as a group of psychrotolerant, aerobic, Gram-negative, non-motile, oxidase-positive coccobacilli belonging to the class Gammaproteobacteria. At the time of writing, the genus comprises 30 recognized species (http:// www.bacterio.cict.fr/s/psychrobacter.html). Members of the genus Psychrobacter have been isolated from a variety of low-temperature marine environments, including Antarctic sea ice, ornithogenic soil and sediments, the stomach contents of the Antarctic krill Euphausia, seawater (north-western Pacific Ocean, 300 m depth), the deep sea and the internal tissues of marine ascidian and crustacean species (Bowman et al., 1996(Bowman et al., , 1997 Maruyama et al., 2000; Romanenko et al., 2002Romanenko et al., , 2004 Yumoto et al., 2003;Shivaji et al., 2004Shivaji et al., , 2005Bozal et al., 2003;Heuchert et al., 2004;Denner et al., 2001;Romanenko et al., 2009), lowtemperature Arctic permafrost (Bakermans et al., 2006), moderate-temperature marine environments (Yoon et al., 2005b(Yoon et al., , 2005c and H 2 O 2 -containing wastewater (Yumoto et al., 2009). Other sources of members of the genus Psychrobacter include pigeon faeces, fish, processed meat and poultry products, fermented seafood and infected lamb (González et al., 2000;Juni & Heym, 1986; Kämpfer et al., 2002;Vela et al., 2003;Yoon et al., 2003Yoon et al., , 2005aJung et al., 2005). In this study, we report on the detailed taxonomic characterization of a Psychrobacter-like bacterial strain, SC35 T .Strain SC35 T was isolated from the tidal flat sediment of Suncheon Bay (34 u 529 N 127 u 309 E), Republic of Korea, using the standard dilution plating technique. Isolation was achieved using marine agar (MA; Difco) at 20 u C for 7 days. The isolate was routinely cultured on MA and maintained at 280 u C as a suspension in marine broth (MB; Difco) containing glycerol (20 %, w/v).Bacterial DNA preparation and PCR amplification and sequencing of 16S rRNA gene were carried out as described by Chun & Goodfellow (1995...

Among vertebrate species, pigs are a major amplifying host of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and measuring their seroconversion is a reliable indicator of virus activity. Traditionally, the hemagglutination inhibition test has been used for serological testing in pigs; however, it has several limitations and, thus, a more efficient and reliable replacement test is required. In this study, we developed a new immunochromatographic test for detecting antibodies to JEV in pig serum within 15 min. Specifically, the domain III region of the JEV envelope protein was successfully expressed in soluble form and used for developing the immunochromatographic test. The test was then applied to the surveillance of Japanese encephalitis (JE) in Korea. We found that our immunochromatographic test had good sensitivity (84.8%) and specificity (97.7%) when compared with an immunofluorescence assay used as a reference test. During the surveillance of JE in Korea in 2012, the new immunochromatographic test was used to test the sera of 1,926 slaughtered pigs from eight provinces, and 228 pigs (11.8%) were found to be JEV-positive. Based on these results, we also produced an activity map of JEV, which marked the locations of pig farms in Korea that tested positive for the virus. Thus, the immunochromatographic test reported here provides a convenient and effective tool for real-time monitoring of JEV activity in pigs.