• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2006

Bovine viral leukosis is a viral disease of cattle characterized by the development of tumors in the lymphatic tissue. A female Holstein, 3-year-old, was submitted for diagnosis at the Diagnostic laboratory, Chonbuk National University. Clinical sign of the affected animal showed emaciation, enlargement of superficial lymph node and mild diarrhea. Remarkable lesions were enlargement of many internal lymph nodes. Histopathology revealed excessive neoplastic lymphoid cells characteristic of BVL infection. Subsequently, serums from all cattle were collected and serological examination was done where a 85% seropositive rate was detected using ELISA test. ELISA method showed a comparatively 75% higher detection rate than the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) test (85% vs 40%). Serologically positive cattle were variably detected in all ages from under 1 year to over 6 year of age. Hematological examination consistently showed leukocytosis and a differential lymphocytosis of seropositive cattle. Detailed comparative pathological and serological data diagnosed the presence of bovine viral leukosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.29-32
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• 2008

The aim of this study is to determine the Toxocara seropositive rate among healthy people with eosinophilia. A total of 97 people residing in Seoul who were healthy and whose blood eosinophilia was over 10%, as shown by regular health check-ups in 2004, were subjected to this study. Their sera were tested by immunoblotting and ELISA with the antigen of larval Toxocara canis excretory-secretory (ES) protein. Sixty-five sera were band-positive (67.0%). The seropositve control sera were positive to band sizes of 66 kDa, 56 kDa, 32 kDa, and 13 kDa. In ELISA, 63 sera (65.0%) were positive to T. canis ES protein. There was no significant correlation between the IgG ELISA titer and the level of eosinophilia (r = 0.156, P = 0.156). As there were insufficient data to determine whether there were cross-reactions with other helminthic infections, or whether atopy occurred, further studies are required to verify the cause of the seropositive reactions against T. canis ES antigen. Toxocariasis seropositivity is suggested to be the major cause of eosinophilia, since the Toxocara seroprevalence among Korean rural adults was shown to be approximately 5%.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.53-62
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• 2004

The present study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of Neospora caninum infection in Korean indigenous cattle and calves of abnormal deliveries and focus on correlation between malformation and N caninum infection. To determine the prevalence of antibodies to N caninum, sera of 473 Korean indigenous cattle from slaughter house were tested for N caninum antibodies using indirect fluorescence assay. Of the 473 cattle sera, 9.5% (45/473) showed positive against N caninum. Regional seropositive rates of the samples were 16.7% (5/85), 11.0% (11/100), 8.8% (21/240) and 5.9% (5/85) at Kyonggi, Gyeongbuk, Daegu and Kyongnam province, respectively. In female, seropositive rates were 17.5% (25/143) and 6.1% (20/330) in male. During the period from march 2000 to August 2001, 55 abnormal deliveries of Korean indigenous cattle including abortion, stillbirth and congenital malformation were examined by histopathological, immunohistochemical and serological methods for evidence of N caninum infection. Of the 55 abnormal deliveries, only 5 calves showed positive reaction against N caninum in serological test. In microscopical observation, gliosis and nonsuppurative myositis were observed. However, Neospora-like organisms were not detected by either periodic acid-schiff (PAS) reaction or immunohistochemical technique. Taken together all these data, this study indicate that N caninum infection was widespread in breeding farms of Korean native cattle, but correlation between malformation and N caninum infection was not recognized.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8837-8842
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• 2014

Background: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is an important cause of liver cancer in Thailand. The highest prevalence of anti-HCV positive among Thai blood donors is found in the northeastern region. The present analysis of the genotype distribution among anti-HCV positive northeastern-Thai blood donors was conducted to provide a base for the epidemiological pattern of HCV infection in this region. Materials and Methods: A total of 112 HCV seropositive healthy blood donors were randomly selected and tested for the presence of HCV-RNA by RT-PCR. HCV-RNA positive samples were genotyped by direct sequencing at core region genomes and confirmed by phylogenetic analysis. Results: HCV viremia was found in 94.6% (106/112) of HCV seropositive blood donors. There were 3 major genotypes distributed among this population. HCV genotype 3a was the most prevalent (71.7%) followed by genotypes 1a (7.5%), 1b (7.5%), 6i (3.8%), 6f (2.8%) and 6n (1.9%). Conclusions: HCV genotype 3a in asymptomatic infections in northeastern Thailand is significantly higher than other previous reports. Subgenotype 6 prevalence is less than in neighboring countries and distribution patterns differ. The findings are relevant as predictors for using interferon therapy in this population.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.293-295
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• 2008

The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in the serum malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and nitric oxide (NO) levels between normal and T. gondii-infected patients. To this end, MDA, GSH, and NO levels in the sera of 37 seropositive patients and 40 participants in the control group were evaluated. In Toxoplasma ELISA, IgG results of the patient group were $1,013.0{\pm}543.8$ in optical density (mean ${\pm}$ SD). A statistically significant difference was found between patients and the control group in terms of MDA, GSH, and NO levels. A decrease in GSH activity was detected, while MDA and NO levels increased significantly. Consequently, it is suggested that the use of antioxidant vitamins in addition to a parasite treatment shall prove useful. The high infection vs control ratio of MDA and NO levels probably suggests the occurrence as a mechanism of tissue damage in cases of chronic toxoplasmosis. Moreover, it is recommended that the patient levels of MDA, GSH, and NO should be evaluated in toxoplasmosis.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.321-323
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• 2014

Encephalitozoon cuniculi is a microsporidian parasite commonly found in rabbits that can infect humans, causing encephalitozoonosis. The prevalence of encephalitozoonosis is not well documented, even when many clinics suspect pet rabbits as being highly infected. This study investigated the seropositivity of E. cuniculi using ELISA. The examination of 186 rabbits using ELISA showed that 22.6% (42/186) were seropositive against E. cuniculi. In analysis with healthy status, all 42 seropositive sera were collected from clinically normal rabbits. Moreover, the gender and age of pet rabbits did not have anysignificant effect on E. cuniculi infection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the seroprevalence of E. cuniculi in pet rabbits and suggests that pet rabbits could act as an important reservoir of encephalitozoonosis for both pet animals and humans in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.19-24
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• 2012

This study was performed to evaluate the prevalence rate of Toxoplasma gondii on 217 stray cats in Daejeon. The positive infection rate of T. gondii was 15.7% in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), 12.4% in latex agglutination test (LAT), 14.7% in indirect immunofluorescent antibody test (IFA) and 0.5% in polymerase chain reaction (PCR) respectively. In districts, Yuseong-gu was shown the highest seropositive rate of T. gondii as 31.8% in ELISA, 22.7% in LAT and 31.8% in IFA. In gender, the seropositive rate of female cats was slightly higher than that of male cats as 17.2% in ELISA, 15.2% in LAT, 15.2% in IFA and 1.0% in PCR. Cats captured in National science museum, detached house and apartment was shown relatively high prevalence rate of T. gondii.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.275-281
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• 2007

Neospora caninum (N caninum) is an intracellular protozoa parasite, and its infection is one of the important diseases because it can cause abortion in cattle. This study was conduct to gain epidemiological data for more effective control of the disease. Bloods were collected from 2,162 cattle on 90 farms from February to September 2006. Serums were tested for antibodies to N caninum using ELISA CherdCheck, IDEXX). The dairy breed presented a higher proportion of seropositive results than that of Hanwoo. The estimated proportion of N caninum-positive dairy farms was 71.1 %, but the overall seroprevalence was estimated as 22.8%. The seroprevalence of dairy cattle and Hanwoo were 31.0% and 4.9%, respectively. There was no significant difference in the seroprevalence by age, but the not-intensive managed farms had a high seroprevalence (OR=1.91, p-value<0.01). The antibody rate of cattle with dog(s) was greater than that of those without dogs (OR=2.13, p-value<0.01). There was a significant difference in abortion rate between seropositive cattle and seronegative ones (OR=6.2, p-value<0.01).

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.97-100
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• 2014

This study was performed in Korea to get serological information for bovine herpesvirus 1 (BoHV-1), most commonly found in cattle. Antibodies against BoHV-1 were examined by targeting infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR) in unvaccinated and vaccinated cattle, using viral neutralization (VN) test. In 2013, among 261 sera collected from IBR-unvaccinated herds, 7 sera (2.7%) were found seropositive and their VN titers were ranging from 1:4 to 1:32. Among 315 sera collected from IBR-vaccinated herds in large capacity farms, 303 sera (96.2%) were found to be seropositive for BoHV-1 and their VN titers were in the range of 1:4 to 1:2048. It was found that the IBR-vaccinated herds had higher levels of VN titer than IBR-unvaccinated herds. The results indicated that it may be due to heavy vaccination in vaccinated herds and no or a little infection in unvaccinated herds. At the end of the study it was concluded that although the seropositivity in IBR-unvaccinated herds was low, the monitoring of IBR should be continuously practiced to control and prevent the disease because of exportation of living cattle causing its nationwide outbreaks.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.87-91
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• 2008

Between March and October 2007, a total of 516 blood samples from pigs in the Gyeonggi province were examined for seroprevalence against toxoplasmosis by latex agglutination test (LAT) and the detection of antigenic particles among seropositive samples by PCR. In the LAT, 118 (22.8%) were positive, and the unadjusted percentage of seroprevalence rates of breeding and fattening pigs were significant difference. Positive rate (14.1%) in the breeding pigs was much lower than that (27.8%) of the fattening pigs (p<0.001, Pearson's Chi-square test). The antibody detection rate of sows was lower than fattening pigs, i.e., 15.8% (25/158) and 26% (93/358), respectively (P=0.011, Pearson's Chi-square test). Among 118 seropositive samples by LAT, 68 (57.6%) were positive in PCR for the detection of the toxoplasma specific-DNA. There was a statistical difference in the positive PCR reaction between the raising pigs(63/93 67.7%) and sows (5/25, 20%) (P<0.01).