Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
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Molecular detection of Borrelia theileri in cattle in Korea

  • Hyeon-Ji Hyung (Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University) ;
  • Yun-Sil Choi (Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University) ;
  • Jinho Park (College of Veterinary Medicine, Jeonbuk National University) ;
  • Kwang-Jun Lee (Division of Zoonotic and Vector Borne Diseases Research, Center for Infectious Diseases Research, Korea National Institute of Health) ;
  • Jun-Gu Kang (Korea Zoonosis Research Institute, Jeonbuk National University)
  • Received : 2023.10.17
  • Accepted : 2024.01.19
  • Published : 2024.02.29
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Abstract

Bovine borreliosis, caused by Borrelia theileri which is transmitted via hard tick bites, is associated with mild clinical symptoms, such as fever, lethargy, hemoglobinuria, anorexia, and anemia. Borrelia theileri infects various animals, such as cattle, deer, horses, goats, sheep, and wild ruminants, in Africa, Australia, and South America. Notably, no case of B. theileri infection has been reported in Korean cattle to date. In this study, 101 blood samples were collected from a Korean indigenous cattle breed, among which 1.98% tested positive for B. theileri via nested PCR. The obtained sequences exhibited high homology with B. theileri strains identified in other regions. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA confirmed the B. theileri group affiliation; however, flagellin B sequences exhibited divergence, potentially due to regional evolutionary differences. This study provides the first molecular confirmation of B. theileri infection in Korean livestock. Further isolation and nucleotide sequence analyses are necessary to better understand the presence of B. theileri strains in cows in Korea.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This paper was supported by research funds for newly appointed professors of Jeonbuk National University in 2020 and by the National Institutes of Health Research Project (Project No. 2022ER210801).

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