• Journal of Veterinary Science
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.11.1-11.7
• /
• 2021

Background: The spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis causes anthrax, an often-fatal infection in animals. Therefore, a rapid and reliable strategy to decontaminate areas, humans, and livestock from B. anthracis is very critical. Objectives: The aim of this study was performed to evaluate the efficacy of sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, and quaternary ammonium compound (QAC) sanitizers, which are commonly used in the food industry, to inhibit spores and vegetative cells of B. anthracis surrogate. Methods: We evaluated the efficacy of sodium hypochlorite, calcium hypochlorite, and a QAC in inhibiting vegetative cells and spores of a B. anthracis surrogate. We treated a 0.1-mL vegetative cell culture or spore solution with 10 mL sanitizer. The samples were serially diluted and cultured. Results: We found that 50 ppm sodium hypochlorite (pH 7), 1 ppm calcium hypochlorite, and 1 ppm QAC completely eliminated the cells in vegetative state. Exposure to 3,000 ppm sodium hypochlorite (pH 7) and 300 ppm calcium hypochlorite significantly eliminated the bacterial spores; however, 50,000 ppm QAC could not eliminate all spores. Conclusions: Calcium hypochlorite and QAC showed better performance than sodium hypochlorite in completely eliminating vegetative cells of B. anthracis surrogate. QAC was ineffective against spores of the B. anthracis surrogate. Among the three commercial disinfectants tested, calcium hypochlorite most effectively eliminated both B. anthracis vegetative cells and spores.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.442-454
• /
• 2017

Biological weapon is manipulated and produced from microorganisms such as bacteria, virus, rickettsia, fungi etc. It is classified as one of the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) along with chemical weapon and radiological weapon. Biological weapon has a number of operational advantages over the other WMDs including ease of development and production, low cost and possibility of covert dissemination. In this study we analyze the history of biological weapon's development and the existing biological threats. Then, we predict the social impact of biological attack based on the physical properties of biological agent and infection mechanisms. By analyzing the recognition, dispersion pattern of agents, characteristics of the diseases in the biological weapon related historical events such as Sverdlovsk anthrax accident, 2001 anthrax attack, we found out some of the facts that biological attack would not likely to be recognized rapidly, produce large number of the exposed, increase number of paients who suffed from severe respiratory illness. It would lead the public health and medical service providers to be struggled with hugh burden. Base on the facts that we found from this case study, we suggested the main capabilities of public health required to respond to bioterrorism event efficiently. Syndromic surveillance and other reporting system need to be operated effeciently so that any suspicious event should be detected promptly. the pathogen which suspected to be used should be identified through laboratory diagnostic system. It is critical for the public health agency to define potentially exposed population under close cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Lastly, massive prophylaxis should be provided rapidly to the people at need by operating human and material resources effeciently. If those capacities of public health are consistantly fortified we would be able to deal with threat of bioterrorism successfully.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.87-92
• /
• 1986

The present surveys were conducted in attempts to investigate the health situation of horses in Korea through mass-screening the samples serologically, bacteriologically and clinically. A total of 575 horses were sampled randomly, comprising 126 from the Korean Horse Affairs Association, 288 from the Korean Equestrian Federation and 161 from the Jeju ponies. Each of the samples taken was tested for diagnoses of 18 horse diseases including African horse sickness. Summarised below are the results obtained from this surveys. 1. From results of the serological survey it is evident that Korea is currently free from African horse sickness, dourine, glanders, vesicular stomatits, equine piroplasmosis, equine viral arteritis, Venezuelan encephalomyelitis and contagious equine metritis. Constant vigilence with strengthened quarantine measures is thus vital for maintaining freedom of any those diseases in Korea. 2. No clinical case was observed with any of signs or symptoms of infectious lymphangitis, anthrax and infestations with ringworm, mange or scab. However, continuous follow-up is required for establishing the evidence of no occurrence of the diseases in Korea. 3. One case of seropositive to equine infectious anemia may fully justify systematic and regular testings for the whole population of horse in Korea. 4. It is manifested that equine rhinopneumonitis, Japanese encephalitis and Getah virus infection are well established in Korea, together with the presence of equine infectious abortion(Salmonella abortus equi). This strongly entails preventive precautions before entry into Korea for the horses participating in the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

• The Journal of the Korean Society for Microbiology
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.31-40
• /
• 2000

Bacillus anthracis, the etiological agent of anthrax has been classified into the Bacillus subgroup I with B. cereus, B. mycoides and B. thuringiensis based on morphological and DNA similarity. DNA studies have further indicated that these species have very AT-rich genomes and high homology, indeed it has been proposed that these four sub-species be recognized as members of the one species. Several methods have been developed to obtain good differentiation between these species. However, none of these methods provides the means for an absolutely correct differntiation. The analysis of fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) was employed as a quick, simple and reliable method for the identification of 21 B. anthracis strains and closley related strains. The most significant differences were found between B. anthracis and B. anthracis closely related strains in FAMEs profiles. All tested strains of B. anthracis had a branched fatty acid C17:1 Anteiso A, whereas the fraction of unsaturated fatty acid Iso C17:1 w10c was found in B. anthracis closely related strains. By UPGMA clustering analysis of FAMEs profiles, all of the tested strains were classified into two clusters defined at Euclidian distance value of 24.5. The tested strains of B. anthracis were clustered together including Bacillus sp. Kyungjoo 3. However, the isolates of B. anthracis closely related spp. Rho, S10A, 11R1, CAU9910, CAU9911, CAU9912 and CAU9913 were clustered with the other group. On the basis of these results, isolates of B. anthracis Bongchon, Kyungjoo 1, 2 and Bacillus sp. Kyungjoo 3 were reclassified as a B. anthracis. It is concluded that FAMEs analysis provides a sensitive and reliable method for the identification of B. anthracis from closely related taxa.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.445-460
• /
• 2017

This study was carried out for three years from 2013 to 2015 to investigate the actual condition of pest control of domestic persimmon organically cultivated farmers, to select environment - friendly pest control materials for major pests, and to conduct field test of established control system. The main cultivated cultivar of the reader farmer of organic cultivation was "Buyou" and sprayed organic agricultural material 9~17 times per year for pest control. The most harmful pests were anthracnose, bugs, persimmon fruit worm, and scales, etc. The control materials used were organic lime sulfur mixture, red clay sulfur, emulsifier, bordeaux solution, and self-made plant extracts using garlic, ginkgo nut and pine tree. The effective materials for controlling anthrax were lime sulfur mixture and red clay sulfur. Garlic oil + citronella emulsion, shrubby sophora seed extract + tea extract was effective to control Riptortus clavatus and Euproctis subflava. When installed 60 ea per 10a of mating disruption trap in a sweet orchard, the fruit setting rate was improved by 30%. The results of field test of control system to control 10 times a year in organically grown persimmons were able to harvest fruit of 70.7%. However, since any kinds of pesticides can not be sprayed during the harvest season in September and October, the damaged by bugs did not decreased, and further research is needed.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.140-148
• /
• 2015

Vaccination is the most powerful and useful preparation against infectious diseases. However, developing vaccines costs a lot and requires extensive long-term efforts. Therefore, the government should research and develop vaccines with a national-level policy. To greatly enhance the success rate of vaccine development, the policy should be set up considering priorities such as the current status of domestic research, the importance for public health, the urgency of research. The Delphi technique was utilized to draft this survey, through a brainstorming stage, then two inquiries, and finally the final panel meeting where unresolved items were discussed, to draw the conclusion. Among the results, firstly, the highest ranked item on centralized fields for vaccine development by the Ministry of Health was 'self-sufficiency of vaccines.' Secondly, 'emerging infectious disease' was most highly ranked in prioritized fields of vaccine development and research. Thirdly, for the vaccine that needs to be improved and developed further by the government to improve its efficacy and safety, BCG (Bacille de Calmette) for tuberculosis was ranked the highest on both types (intradermal and subcutaneous injection) from National Immunization Programme (NIP) and non-NIP. As for the high risk pathogens, 'anthrax' and 'smallpox' were first and second, consecutively. Lastly, 'development and control of vaccine candidates' was ranked the highest for the area in need for technique development in order to improve domestic vaccine's research level. The results of this study will be put to good use as basic data for the national vaccine research and development (R&D) policy of the country. This study was first step and more studies should be carried out for the final decision of the national vaccine R&D priority.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.507-515
• /
• 2024

Microbial forensics is a scientific discipline for analyzing evidence related to biological crimes by identifying the origin of microorganisms. Multiple locus variable number tandem repeat analysis(MLVA) is one of the microbiological analysis methods used to specify subtypes within a species based on the number of tandem repeat in the genome, and advances in next generation sequencing(NGS) technology have enabled in silico anlysis of full-length whole genome sequences. In this paper, we analyzed unknown samples provided by Robert Koch Institute(RKI) through The United Nations Secretary-General's Mechanism(UNSGM)'s external quality assessment exercise(EQAE) project, which we officially participated in 2023. We confirmed that the 3 unknown samples were B. anthracis through nucleic acid isolation and genetic sequence analysis studies. MLVA results on 32 loci of B. anthracis were analysed by using genome sequences obtained from NGS(NextSeq and MinION) and Sanger sequencing. The MLVA typing using short-reads based NGS platform(NextSeq) showed a high probability of causing assembly error when a size of the tandem repeats was grater than 200 bp, while long-reads based NGS platform(MinION) showed higher accuracy than NextSeq, although insertion and deletion was observed. We also showed hybrid assembly can correct most indel error caused by MinION. Based on the MLVA results, genetic identification was performed compared to the 2,975 published MLVA databases of B. anthracis, and MLVA results of 10 strains were identical with 3 unkonwn samples. As a result of whole genome alignment of the 10 strains and 3 unknown samples, all samples were identified as B. anthracis strain A4564 which is associated with injectional anthrax isolates in heroin users.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.22 no.2 s.26
• /
• pp.290-301
• /
• 1989

This is preliminary report on anthrax epidemic occurred in an island with about 100 residents. Since 1982 there had been sudden deaths among all kinds of domestic animals including cattle, dogs, ducks, chicken and goat but only a few among cats in an isolated island about three hours distance away by ferry boat from Mokpo city. From 1986 through 1988 nine human deaths and four patients occurred, which made the government intervene for investigation on June 25 1988. The epidemiological investigation consisted of interview survey and medical examination, medical record analysis, laboratory work to isolate the pathogens under the direction of hypothesis derived from the study and further confirmation of the pathogens by international institute. The summarized results are as followings: 1. According to the interview survey there were many deaths among domestic animals usually in cold and dry season such as January through March and September through November; 36 heads of cattle leaving one head, more than 40 hogs(all), hundreds of chicken leaving few alive, goats that had taken home from mountain and two or three cats out of around 40 had sudden deaths from 1982 till 1985, when the residents stopped to purchase and take them into the island anymore. Also there were eleven persons who had experienced the similar syndrome complex to those of admitted and expired patients and four of them revealed typical chest X-ray findings; from one of these four patients(Rho) B. anthracis is isolated. 2. Medical record on patients who had been admitted, showed common characteristics of the disease course. On admission they had either gastrointestinal or upper respiratory infection symptoms which invariably progressed to septicemic nature with pulmonary interstitial infiltration and mediastinal widening/bulging, and then to deadly acute respiratory distress syndrome. At the end stage chest X-ray revealed multiple bullous emphysema. One of another characteristics was oral ulceration with bleeding occurred in about 50% of the patients. Laboratory test results in common were leukocytosis with left shift and abnormal liver and kidney functions, particularly at the later stage of the illness. 3. Epidemiological characteristics was striking in that both mortality and incidence rates were high: the mortality rate was 8.7% average, male being three times higher than females but there was no distictive clustering by age group. The incidence rate for both sexes was 28.2% and there was no sex difference although a tendency of higher incidence among older ages was noticed. The highest mortality and incidence were observed in Won village where the first death of animal occurred and with the highest frequency among three villages of the island. 4. Among twelve bacilli species isolated from various specimens, two strains, one from patient and the other from soil where the recently died cow is hurried, were confirmed as B. anthracis by Pasteur Institute and CDC of USA(strain from soil). CDC reported that the strain did not produce capsule in bicarbonate media but reacted with the bacteriophage and one of five sera taken from the patients. Mode of transmission as well as incubation period of the agent has not been established yet, which needs further investigation in relation to the antigenic structure of the variant when it is confirmed.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.147-154
• /
• 1999

This research was carried out to obtain the field resistance to disease and pest, and high yielding of new Boxthorn (Lycium chinense Mill.) varieties. Growth characteristics, yield potential, correlation of trait which was related the yield and path coefficient of the domestic native varieties. two of cultivated varieties and four of introduced varieties were investigated. In growth characters of collected varieties, the stem length of collected varieties in China were slightly long. Leaf area in Jindo, Kumsan native and Yusong 1 and 2 were wider than that of other varieties. Resistance to pest iniury was very strong at China 1, Japan 1 and Yusong 2 in eriophyidmite, and also resistance to anthrax anthracnose were showed less than 10% of the rate of attack fruit at Japan 1 and China 1. Flowering stage was more early in Chungyang native than that of other varieties. Fruit size of Kumsan native, Yusong 2 were large size fruit varieties. Fruit setting number was most abundant at 1,623 in Yusong 2 which was collected variety. And dry yields of fruit per lOa was more cmparatively abundant in Yusong 2 at 86% than those of Chungyang native. The high correlation cofficienct character with fruit yield were fruit setting and branching number and leaf area. Direct effect by path anaslysis were fruit setting number (Py=0.45), and branching number was showed indirect effect.