• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.170-178
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• 2019

Objectives: To determine the epidemiological features of patients and animals after bites/scratches from rabies-suspected animals in Zenica-Doboj Canton, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods: Data from all patients (and the causative animals) admitted to the Antirabies Service of the Institute for Health and Food Safety Zenica in the 2009-2017 period were analyzed, including age, sex, anatomical site of the bite/scratch, animal type (stray/owned/wildlife), veterinary observations of the animal, and whether antirabies post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) was indicated and/or administered. Results: In total, 1716 patients were admitted. Bites/scratches were most frequently recorded during April and May (n=181, 10.5% and n=163, 9.5%, respectively). The persons admitted were mostly from the Zenica municipality (n=1278, 74.5%; incidence: 11.55/1000), which is 66.6% urbanized. Males were more frequently represented (n=1089, 63.6%). The patients were mostly 50-64 and 25-49 years of age (n=425, 24.7% and n=390, 22.7%, respectively). Dog bites were the most common cause (n=1634, 95.1%, of which n=1258, 77.0% were caused by stray dogs). PEP was indicated for 997 (58.1%) patients. Only 340 (19.9%) animals underwent veterinary observations (3.1% of stray and 76.1% of owned animals). The largest number of injuries were presented at lower extremities, 1044 (60.8%) cases. Conclusions: Zenica-Doboj Canton is a rabies-free region. Due to the high rate of stray animals not undergoing veterinary observations, the non-existence of a unique dog registry, and the consequent lack of information about stray animals in terms of number, vaccination, neutering, and euthanasia, there is an urgent need for improving the prevention and control of rabies within the One Health framework.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.297-305
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• 2014

Animals and disease frequency of the rescued dogs were investigated in Incheon Veterinary Medical Association Animal Shelter from January in 2012 to December in 2013. Three zoonoses (rabies, brucellosis, and dirofilariosis) and three infectious diseases (canine distemper, canine parvoviral enteritis, and canine influenza) were examined for stray dogs. Among 5,603 heads, 647 (11.5%) went back to their owner and 969 (17.3%) were adopted to new families. Prevalence of dirofilariosis, canine distemper and canine parvoviral enteritis were 2.2% (16/718), 6.0% (24/399) and 6.1% (24/396), respectively. Positive antibody rates against rabies, B. canis and canine influenza virus were 20.5% (41/200), 0.1% (1/718) and 2.0% (4/200), respectively. Protective antibody for canine distemper virus and canine parvovirus were shown in 47.0% (94/200). The data indicate that control measures including facility standards and disease control program are one of the important aspects of the shelter management because stray dogs are exposed to various infectious agents.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.275-279
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• 2009

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most common protozoa parasites of human and other warm-blooded animals. Cats and wild felidae play crucial roles in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. This study was performed to survey the prevalence of T. gondii infection among stray cats in the Seoul. A total of 422 stray cat blood samples were collected from Seoul area. Positive sera for T. gondii were identified in 56 samples (13.3%) exclusively via the latex agglutination test and the detection no antigen particles among seropositive samples by PCR. The overall infection rate of male stray cats (14.4%) presented as higher than that of female cats (10.7%). This study suggested that T. gondii is widespread in stray cats of Seoul area. It is needed to control urban stray cat population and to reduced the risk of zoonotic transmission of toxolasmosis to other animals and humans.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.199-201
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• 2008

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular zoonotic protozoan with a worldwide distribution. It infects humans as well as a broad spectrum of vertebrate hosts. Cats and wild felidae play crucial roles in the epidemiology of toxoplasmosis. This study was performed to survey the prevalence of T. gondii infection among stray cats in the Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea. A total of 174 stray cat blood samples were collected from Gwacheon-si (n = 20), Bucheon-si (82), and Yangju-si (72). Positive sera for T. gondii were identified in 14 samples (8.1%) exclusively via the latex agglutination test, 28 (16.1%) via ELISA, and 23 (13.2%) via PCR analysis. The overall infection rate of female stray cats (29.2%) presented as higher than that of male cats (24.0%). This study suggests that T. gondii is widespread in the stray cat population of Gyeonggi-do, Korea. It is urgently needed to control urban stray cat population and to reduce the risk of zoonotic transmission of toxoplasmosis to other animal hosts and humans.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.175-183
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• 2021

This study investigated the status and analyzed of stray dogs, stray cats admitted to the Jeju Animal Shelter during the year of 2015 to 2019, and the infection rates of specific diseases for abandoned dogs. In addition, in 2017 to 2019, the collected intake and outcome data were reviewed to analyze shelter capacity in terms of housing capacity (monthly daily average intake, required holding capacity, and adoption-driven capacity), staff capacity (staff hours required for daily care). Out of 24,557 dogs admitted to the shelter, owners of 1,808 dogs (7.4%) visited the shelter and found their lost dogs, while 3,612 dogs (14.7%) were adopted to new families. However, the number of puppies that were euthanized was the highest at 12,266 (49.9%), and 6,876 (28%) died either death from disease or natural causes because they were detained in shelters. The monthly daily average (MDA), which is one of the indicators for efficient population management of Jeju Animal Shelter, was found to be 17.4 for abandoned dogs and 1.7 for abandoned cats. Seasonal variations were observed for MDA, RHC, MDA adoptions, ADC, and RSDC, indicating that various strategies are needed for shelter management. This study was performed to analyze and interpret meaningful statistics for improving the efficiency of animal shelters in Jeju. However, inconsistent collection of animal statistics limited data compilation. Creation of a basic animal statistics matrix with reference to well-designed matrices from recognized professional animal shelters is essential.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.291-295
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• 2009

A dead stray cat was necropsied for zoonotic feline disease monitoring. Grossly, there were no specific lesions. Major microscopic lesions included lymphocytic meningoencephalitis, malacia, and tissue cysts in the cerebral and cerebellar cortex. The size and shape of tissue cysts were identical to those of Apicomplexa including Toxoplasma (T.) gondii. Bradyzoites in the tissue cyst were strongly positive for T. gondii by immunohistochemistry. Electron microscopy revealed that bradyzoites within the tissue cyst were similar to the morphological features of T. gondii. Fresh tissue samples were examined by a polymerase chain reaction assay and resulted in a specific band of T. gondii only in the brain. Based on the results, this case was diagnosed as toxoplasmosis. This is the first case of toxoplasmic meningoencephalitis in a cat in Korea.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.333-338
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• 2013

We investigated the prevalence of feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) in stray and household cats in different regions of Seoul, Republic of Korea. Blood samples were collected from a total of 200 cats (100 stray cats and 100 household cats) and examined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The overall prevalence of FPV was 2%. Among test-positive cats, 3% (3/100) were stray cats and 1% (1/100) was a household cat. The incidence of FPV was higher in juvenile cats (< 1 year, 1.5%) than in adult cats (> 1-year-old, 0.5%). The FPV-positive rates of healthy infected cats and sick cats were 1.9% (3/156) and 2.2% (1/44), respectively. We found the positive rate of vaccinated and unvaccinated cats to be 1.3% (1/77) and 2.4% (3/123), respectively. Unlike antibody tests, FPV antigen tests detected current infections in stray and household cats. Therefore, these tests can help in disease diagnosis and treatment. To our knowledge, our study is the first to survey the prevalence of FPV in different cat populations across Seoul. We found a high prevalence of FPV infection in stray and juvenile cats. Therefore, proper vaccination and surveillance are important to prevent FPV outbreaks.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.99-106
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• 2013

In 2005, we reported the infection status of 438 stray cats with various species of intestinal helminths, including nematodes (4 species), trematodes (23 species), and cestodes (5 species) in the Republic of Korea. However, morphologic details of each helminth species have not been provided. In the present study, we intended to describe morphologic details of 13 trematode species which were either new fauna of cats (10 species) or new fauna of not only cats but also all animal hosts (3 species). The worms were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin under a cover slip pressure, stained with Semichon's acetocarmine, and then observed using a light microscope equipped with a micrometer. The 13 subjected species included members of the Heterophyidae (Stellantchasmus falcatus, Stictodora fuscata, Stictodora lari, Centrocestus armatus, Procerovum varium, and Cryptocotyle concava), Echinostomatidae (Echinostoma hortense, Echinostoma revolutum, Echinochasmus japonicus, and Stephanoprora sp.), Diplostomidae (Neodiplostomum seoulense), Plagiorchiidae (Plagiorchis muris), and Dicrocoeliidae (Eurytrema pancreaticum). By the present study, Cryptocotyle sp. and Neodiplostomum sp. recored in our previous study were identified as C. concava and N. seoulense, respectively. Three species, P. varium, C. concava, and Stephanoprora sp., are new trematode fauna in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.63 no.4
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• pp.31.1-31.4
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• 2023

From 2008 to 2017, blood samples from 280 and fecal samples from 149 stray cats in Gwangju, South Korea, were examined for feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), feline leukemia virus (FeLV), Dirofilaria immitis, and Giardia infections using commercial diagnostic tests. Overall, the combined prevalence of FeLV, FIV, D. immitis, and Giardia was 8.6%, 1.4%, 0.4%, and 2.0%, respectively. FeLV exhibited the highest prevalence rate among the 4 pathogens surveyed, both in the 2008-2009 (9.6%) and 2015-2017 (6.3%) surveys. The results of the feline Giardia study represent the first prevalence report of Giardia infection among stray cats in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Artificial Intelligence
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2021

In this paper, we analyzed the factors of adoption and implemented a predictive model to activate the adoption of animals. Recently, animal shelters are saturated due to the abandonment and loss of companion animals. To address this, we need to find a way to encourage adoption. In this paper, a study was conducted using two data from an open data portal provided by Austin, Texas. First, a correlation analysis was conducted to identify the attributes that affect the result value, and it was found that Animal Type Intake, Intake Type, and Age upon Outcome influence the Outcome Type with correlation coefficients of 0.4, 0.26, and -0.2, respectively. For these attributes, the analysis was conducted using Multiclass Logistic Regression. As a result, dogs had a higher probability of Adoption than cats, and animals subjected to euthanasia were more likely to adopt. In the case of Public Assist and Stray, it was found that the Missing rate was high. Also, the length of stay for cats increased to 12.5 years of age, while dogs generally adopted smoothly at all ages. These results showed an overall accuracy of 62.7% and an average accuracy of 91.7%, showing a fairly reliable result. Therefore, it seems that it can be used to develop a plan to promote the adoption of animals according to various factors. Also, it can be expanded to various services by interlocking with the webserver.