Registered: 2022.10.18 05:54:59 Edited: 2022.10.17 17:55:40
Daily Bet Manager
Kim Hyun-jung
Overseas Infectious Diseases Division, Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Quarantine Headquarters
The National Statistical Office introduced a companion animal-related item for the first time in the 2020 Population and Housing Census. It is intertwined with the social phenomenon caused by the change in which the number of households with companion animals is increasing.
As a result of the sampling, the number of households raising companion animals was approximately 3,129,000 households, accounting for 15% of the total households. Considering the total number of households, 1 in 7 households owns a pet.
Among the many concerns of owners of pets these days, ‘mite’ cannot be left out. This is because we are getting a lot of information through articles and reports that demand special attention to tick-borne infectious diseases as outdoor activities including walking increase.
In fact, ticks are a big concern for pets who enjoy walking from spring to autumn. It is also a problem for ticks to attach to pets and cause damage such as sucking blood or causing itching, but a bigger problem lies in the diseases transmitted by ticks.
Tick-borne diseases, such as Babesia, Anaplasma, and Erlicia, have been well-known before, but in this article, I would like to talk regarding Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS).
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SFTS is a severe febrile disease caused by SFTS virus infection. Its history is only regarding 10 years. In 2009, the virus was isolated from a patient in a rural area in central and central China, and it is a new infectious disease known to the world.
As a disease vector, the small Sophie mite belonging to the family Acaridae and accounting for the highest ratio is known as the main vector species.1).
(Photo: Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Quarantine Headquarters)
In general, SFTS is transmitted through the bite of a tick infected with the SFTS virus.
In addition, compared to other infectious diseases, the fatality rate is very high, and there is no vaccine or treatment, so it is an infectious disease that requires prevention and active management.
In Korea, since the first case was reported in 2013 (average fatality rate: regarding 18.4%), it has occurred every year, and the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classifies and manages it as a third-class infectious disease.2).
Human SFTS occurrence by year
(Source: Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
In humans, most of the deaths occur in the elderly over the age of 60, and the number of cases occurs between September and November.
However, unlike humans, animals rarely show clinical symptoms or even die despite a relatively high antibody-positive rate.
The first reported case of an animal dying following showing clinical symptoms was a cheetah kept at a zoo in Hiroshima, Japan in 2017. Since then, there have been many cases of cat (mortality rate regarding 60%) and dogs dying due to infection with the SFTS virus in southern Japan.3-4).
In Korea, there have been cases of SFTS virus isolated from asymptomatic animals (goats, dogs, etc.), but no clinical symptoms or death were found. Viruses were isolated from dogs with clinical signs and thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and changes in blood chemistry levels. Since then, there have been cases where symptoms are confirmed every year, and the number is on the rise.
SFTS, as mentioned earlier, is a zoonotic disease. In particular, companion animals live in the same space with humans and come in close contact with humans, so there is a high risk of human-animal transmission and veterinary medical staff who cannot avoid direct contact with infected animals need to be very careful.5).
In July 2020, the Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Quarantine Headquarters jointly implemented the 「Human-animal companion testing project」 in cooperation with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.6). It has been operating for 3 years.
The pilot project that was operated in the first year is now 「Establishment of monitoring system for human-animal transmission of SFTS」The inspection is being conducted more extensively than in the previous year.
This monitoring system is among the companion animals visiting the veterinary hospital. Subjects who have been bitten by a tick or have clinical symptoms similar to SFTS infectionis in progress.
SFTS Testing for tick-borne infectious diseases on the blood of a suspected pet or a tick sample taken from the pet’s bodyby doing, SFTS If virus infection is confirmed, veterinary medical staff and guardians who have treated companion animals are also investigated for SFTS virus transmission.are doing
From 2020 to now, 321 samples (248 dogs, 33 cats, 40 ticks) requested to the Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Quarantine Headquarters were tested for SFTS and 4 types of tick-borne diseases. As a result, a total of 16 cases of SFTS were confirmed. did.
Among them, the SFTS virus was isolated from two samples from Jeju, which were requested in ’20 and ’21, respectively.
In the case of the four tick-borne tests conducted for the differential diagnosis of SFTS, the Babesia gene, a representative tick-borne disease, was detected the most every year in companion animals.
In this year’s case, although the number of test requests increased compared to the previous year, anaflamma and ehrlichiosis genes were also detected, confirming that the occurrence of various tick-borne diseases is gradually increasing.
In the case of individuals with confirmed SFTS virus detection, fever and digestive symptoms, thrombocytopenia and leukopenia, etc. were common to the SFTS-positive individuals who showed clinical symptoms in 2018.
Although clinical symptoms are gradually increasing due to SFTS virus infection, there are still not many cases, so more clinical case confirmation and related information accumulation are needed in the future.
According to the results of gene sequencing analysis of virus genes derived from animals (goats, dogs) isolated by the quarantine headquarters, including viruses isolated from companion animals, it was found to be genotype B with a frequency of isolation of more than 77% in humans.
It was confirmed that there was a high genetic homology (highly related) of more than 99% with the human-derived isolated virus.
Although it is difficult to generalize only from the results of this analysis, Humans and animals share a common source of viral infectionIt can be presumed that
Moreover, cases of suspected human-animal transmission (infection) have been reported at home and abroad.
This is because there is a high possibility of being exposed to a large amount of the virus through blood or body fluids, and there are cases in which many medical staff who have participated in CPR for severe SFTS in humans have been infected with the SFTS virus.
Genetic analysis of 3 gene segments of SFTS virus (dogs) isolated from veterinary hospital samples
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SFTS was designated as ‘Common Infectious Disease’ in Article 2, Paragraph 11 of the ‘Act on the Prevention and Management of Infectious Diseases’ in July 2020 in the field of human health. The biggest problem with SFTS is that there is no vaccine or treatment available yet.
Since the animal sector is not yet a statutory livestock infectious disease, we are responding in accordance with the 「Guidelines for the prevention and management of SFTS in domestic animals」 (published by the Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Quarantine Headquarters, 2019), but it is not easy to manage. is not
National quarantine policies and clinical treatment guidelines (guidelines) are essential for companion animal diseases that are important from a public health point of view (although not a statutory livestock infectious disease).
For this, the role of the clinical veterinarian who is the first to come into contact with the disease is of paramount importance.
We ask for your interest and cooperation from clinical veterinarians for zoonotic diseases as well as SFTS.
※ If you have any questions or additional information regarding animal SFTS, please contact 「Manual for Prevention and Management of Severe Fever Thrombocytopenia Syndrome in Domestic Animals (Livestock, Companion Animals, etc.)」 (go to see)Please refer to
[참고문헌]
1) Yun SM, Park SJ, Kim YI, Park SH, Yu MA et al., Genetic and pathogenic diversity of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) in South Korea. JCI Insight, 2020, 5(2):e129531.
2) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidelines for the management of tick- and rodent-borne infectious diseases in 2020. 2020
3) Kida.K, Matsuoka Y, Shimoda T, Matsuoka H, Yamada H et al. A case of cat-to-human transmission of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus. Jpn J Infect Dis. 2019;72(5):356-358
4) Yamanaka A, Kirino Y, Fujimoto S, Ueda N, Himeji D, et al. Direct transmission of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus from Domestic Cat to Veterinary Personnel. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020;26(12):2994-2998
5) Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Agriculture, Forestry and Livestock Quarantine Headquarters. A manual for the prevention and management of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) in domestic animals (livestock, companion animals, etc.). 2019
6) Results of the pilot test project for the human-animal SFTS positive in 2020. Weekly Health and Illness (CDC, ), 2021, 14(24):1722-1730.
<Please note that this article is a reprint of the manuscript published in the September 2022 issue of the Korean Veterinary Medical Association (KVMA) in consultation with the Korean Veterinary Medical Association and the author.
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