Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus from ticks: a molecular epidemiological study of a patient in the Republic of Korea

Abstract

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is a tick-borne infectious disease caused by Dabie bandavirus, commonly called SFTS virus (SFTSV). In the Republic of Korea (ROK), 1,504 cases of SFTS have been reported since the first human case was identified in 2013 until 2021. However, no case exists to provide molecular evidence between questing tick and patients with confirmed SFTS in the same living environment. In this study, we investigated the presence of ticks near the area of a patient infected with SFTSV. Ticks were collected by flagging and dry ice-baited traps at three spots in the vegetation around the patients’ residence in Chuncheon City, Gangwon Province (ROK). Among the tick samples collected, the presence of SFTSV was genetically determined using reverse transcription PCR, followed by the phylogenetic analysis of the tick virus sequences and SFTSV found in the patient. In total 1,212 Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks were collected, and SFTSV was detected at a minimum infection rate of 5.3% (33 pools/618 tested ticks). The sequences of SFTSV in ticks were 99.6–100% identical with the patient’s SFTSV in the M segment. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first case to provide a molecular correlation between SFTSV in questing ticks collected from residence and patient with SFTS in the ROK. The present results provide useful information for the epidemiological investigation of patients with SFTS using ticks as vectors of SFTSV.

Distribution and pathogen prevalence of field-collected ticks from south-western Korea: a study from 2019 to 2022

“…Kim et al . also reported a molecular epidemiological correlation between a patient with SFTS and questing ticks collected from the patient's residence 12 .…”

Advancements in the Worldwide Detection of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus Infection from 2009 to 2023

“…This is then followed by observing cytopathic effects (CPE) and the verification of viral replication via molecular techniques (3). Numerous studies have reported success in isolating SFTSV from a range of sources, including patient samples, ticks, and animals that have been experimentally infected (3,(35)(36)(37)(38)(39).…”

“…Wei et al (39) conducted a study on the ability of SFTSV to infect BEAS-2B cells. Utilizing cell culture techniques, they assessed the overall antibody production in the serum as well as the viral load in the tissue of mice infected with SFTSV via aerosol exposure.…”

“…Detection of SFTSV genome could be achieved by different nucleic acid detection techniques such as RT-PCR ( 13 , 40 - 43 ), real-time RT-PCR ( 23 , 28 , 41 , 44 - 48 ), LAMP ( 24 , 49 - 50 ), as well as RPA ( 25 , 51 - 52 ).…”