• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.61 no.1
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• pp.4.1-4.6
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• 2021

Equine piroplasmosis (EP) is caused by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi infection. We investigated antigen and antibody of EP in horses in the Republic of Korea during 2016-2017. Antigen and antibody of T. equi was detected 0.06% (1/1,650). Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rRNA revealed that the T. equi was highly homologous with the strains from China, Mongolia, and Spain. Two Theileria spp. were also detected and highly homologous with T. buffeli, T. luwenshuni, and T. orientalis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.257-265
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• 2020

The outbreak of human toxoplasmosis can be attributed to ingestion of food contaminated with Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasmosis recently increased in domestic and stray dogs and cats. It prompted studies on the zoonotic infectious diseases transmitted via these animals. Sero- and antigen prevalences of T. gondii in dogs and cats were surveyed using ELISA and PCR, and B1 gene phylogeny was analyzed in this study. Toxoplasmosis antibodies were measured on sera of 403 stray cats, 947 stray dogs, 909 domestic cats, and 2,412 domestic dogs collected at nationwide regions, Korea from 2017 to 2019. In addition, whole blood, feces, and tissue samples were also collected from stray cats (1,392), stray dogs (686), domestic cats (3,040), and domestic dogs (1,974), and T. gondii-specific B1 gene PCR was performed. Antibody prevalence of stray cats, stray dogs, domestic cats, and domestic dogs were 14.1%, 5.6%, 2.3%, and 0.04%, respectively. Antigen prevalence of these animals was 0.5%, 0.2%, 0.1%, and 0.4%, respectively. Stray cats revealed the highest infection rate of toxoplasmosis, followed by stray dogs, domestic cats, and domestic dogs. B1 gene positives were 5 of stray cats, and identified to high/moderate pathogenic Type I/III group. These findings enforce that preventive hygienic measure should be strengthened at One Health level in dogs and cats, domestic and stray, to minimize human toxoplasmosis infections.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.137-140
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• 2016

The correct and quick diagnosis can be minimized damage from honeybee diseases. This study was carried out to detect infectious pathogens in honeybee in Jeonbuk province. 183 samples were collected from 8 area of Jeonbuk beekeeping farms in 2015 and 10 of infectious pathogens were examined through PCR and RT-PCR. Among 183 samples, positive rates of each disease were as follows; BQCV 43.7%, SBV 24.6%, DWV 16.4%, SB 15.8%, CB 10.4%, Nosemosis 7.1%, AFB 6.6%, EFB 1.1%, CBPV 1.1%, ABPV 0.0%. Among 28 beekeeping farms, 19 farms (67.9%) were infected with a complex of two or more diseases. The highest frequency of complex infections was BQCV.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.147-150
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• 2013

This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of honeybee (Apis mellifera) disease in cheonan and asan area. From September to November in 2012, 33 samples were collected from 33 apiculture farms in the regions and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted. Among 33 samples, prevalence rate was 42% in Sac Brood Virus (SBV), 52% in Nosema, 21% in American foulbrood (AFB), 70% in European foulbrood (EFB), 97% in Stonebrood, 3% in Chalkbrood. The result indicate that stonebrood was most prevalent disease in apiculture farms in cheonan and asan area.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.111-117
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• 2012

This study investigated the occurrence of honeybee diseases in Incheon area, at the point of great widespread of sacbrood disease in the country. Sixteen resident beekeeping apiaries; 3 native honeybee and 13 European honeybee apiaries were selected for this research. Over 20 adult bees were evenly collected from the most colonies of each apiary three times (March, June, November) within a year. In this work, 13 honeybee diseases including 7 viral diseases, 2 bacterial diseases, 2 fungal diseases, and 2 parasitic diseases were detected by preliminary inspections and PCR. As a result, viral infections were confirmed at 34 among 48 apiaries (70.8%) over the entire examination period. Parasitic diseases showed the highest detection rate of 45.8%, which are detected in 44 among 96 cases. In the seasonal prevalence, 30 cases (15.6%) of 7 pathogens were detected from 14 apiaries in March, 50 cases (24.0%) of 9 pathogens and 56 cases (26.9%) of 9 pathogens were detected from all apiaries in June and November, respectively. Nosema was shown to be the most prevalent pathogen from March to November, followed by sacbrood virus (SBV) and stonebrood. The spread of SBV infection in Incheon would be under-estimated by the increasing of detection rate over the time. Especially, Chinese sacbrood virus was detected from 4 European honybee apiaries, but clinical symptoms were not found. No chalkbrood, acute bee paralysis virus, and chronic bee paralysis virus were detected in this study. The effective therapy and preventive measures should be prepared for beekeeping industry.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.40.1-40.12
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• 2021

Background: The microsporidian parasite Nosema ceranae is a global problem in honeybee populations and is known to cause winter mortality. A sensitive and rapid tool for stable quantitative detection is necessary to establish further research related to the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of this pathogen. Objectives: The present study aimed to develop a quantitative method that incorporates ultra-rapid real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (UR-qPCR) for the rapid enumeration of N. ceranae in infected bees. Methods: A procedure for UR-qPCR detection of N. ceranae was developed, and the advantages of molecular detection were evaluated in comparison with microscopic enumeration. Results: UR-qPCR was more sensitive than microscopic enumeration for detecting two copies of N. ceranae DNA and 24 spores per bee. Meanwhile, the limit of detection by microscopy was 2.40 × 10⁴ spores/bee, and the stable detection level was ≥ 2.40 × 10⁵ spores/bee. The results of N. ceranae calculations from the infected honeybees and purified spores by UR-qPCR showed that the DNA copy number was approximately 8-fold higher than the spore count. Additionally, honeybees infected with N. ceranae with 2.74 × 10⁴ copies of N. ceranae DNA were incapable of detection by microscopy. The results of quantitative analysis using UR-qPCR were accomplished within 20 min. Conclusions: UR-qPCR is expected to be the most rapid molecular method for Nosema detection and has been developed for diagnosing nosemosis at low levels of infection.

• Journal of Apiculture
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.281-293
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• 2017

Sacbrood virus (SBV) is one of the main pathogenic RNA viruses of honeybee. SBV is found worldwide and many local strains have been reported, such as kSBV, cSBV, and wSBV. In this study, SBV-specific DNA fragments were cloned and sequenced by reverse-transcription PCR from 4 populations of A. mellifera, 4 sequences from 1 population belonged to the 2134D51 genotype (349 nucleotides, nt) and 12 sequences from 3 populations belonged to the 2100D0 genotype (400 nt) among the 16 determined sequences. A total of 87 points of mismatches were found by comparison with the most similar sequences in GenBank. Seventeen single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were detected, and 6 SNP-patterns in the 2100D0 genotype and 2 SNP-patterns in the 2134D51 genotype were identified based on SNP positions. In SNP-pattern 2, 10 SNPs were detected, but only 2 SNPs were found in SNP-pattern7. Meanwhile, one SNP-pattern was found from one RNA-sample, multi SNP-patterns were detected from other RNA-samples. Large numbers of SNP variants indicate that vast numbers of point-mutations on SBV have occurred since SBV invaded Korea and that SNP smay have been introduced individually over time. Thorough analysis of SNP variants will not only define the local infection-route, but also the relationships between SNP-pattern and SBV-pathogenic abilities.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.111-118
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• 2018

This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of honeybee (Apis mellifera) diseases in Gwangju area. From November 2016 to August 2017, 89 samples were collected from 33 apiculture farms and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and real time PCR were conducted. 14 infectious pathogens, including seven viruses, two bacteria, three fungi, and two parasites, were investigated from random apiculture farms in Gwangju. The percentage of infectious pathogens were as follows: Stonebrood (76.4%), Deformed wing virus (51.7%), Nosema (27.0%) in PCR and RT-PCR. This result indicated that Stonebrood was most prevalent disease in Gwangju area. And we could get similar results from real time PCR. 84.8% of farms have more than two of infectious pathogens. Stonebrood and Deformed wing virus were major diseases in almost all seasons and Black queen cell virus disease was especially prevalent in May.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.253-258
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• 2016

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of honey bee (Apis mellifera) disease in Daejeon. From May to September in 2014, 63 samples were collected from 63 apiculture farms in the regions and reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was conducted. A total of 11 infectious pathogens, including 6 virus, 2 bacteria, 2 fungi, and 1 parasite, were investigated in honeybee colonies suffering from symptom of sudden collapse, depopulation or paralysis. The infectious pathogens and infection rates among 63 honeybee colonies detected were as follows: sacbrood virus (12.7%), chronic bee paralysis virus (1.6%), stonebrood (11.1%), American foulbrood (19.0%), European foulbrood (6.3%), respectively. The result indicate that foul-brood was most prevalent disease in apiculture farms in Daejeon area.

• Journal of Apiculture
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.269-275
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• 2018

Beekeeping status of Apis cerana with emphasis of experiences overcoming sacbrood virus disease are presented. Social bee fauna are rich in Vietnam with 6 honeybee species (Apis laboriosa, Apis dorsata, Apis mellifera, Apis cerana, Apis andrenifomis, Apis florea); 8 stingless bee species (Trigona laeviceps, Trigona ventralis, Trigona pagdeni, Trigona gressitti, Trigona fuscobalteata, Trigona capenteri, Trigona scintillans Trigona iridipenis) and 2 bumble bee species (Bumbus haemorrhoidalis, B. breviceps). All of them are native except A. mellifera which was introduced in1887. These bees are slated for conservation by the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development. Honey and other bee products are mainly harvested from 3 species including A. cerana, A. mellifera and A. dorsata. The manageable species (A. cerana and A. mellifera) are increasing in number, reaching about 1,500,000 beehives. Vietnam is the second largest honey exporter in Asia, with a total of about 48,000 tons of honey exported to the international market in 2014. A. cerana plays an important role in poverty alleviation in mountainous and remote areas of Vietnam. Honeybee suffers from various diseases of Sacbrood virus disease (SBV), European foulbrood (EFB), Nosema, and parasitic mites of Tropilaelaps mercedes and Varroa destructor. Most of these diseases can be resolved with biocontrol methods. For the parasitic mites, Vietnamese beekeepers usually apply formic acid.