• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
• /
• v.37 no.3
• /
• pp.179-183
• /
• 2014

Reproductive losses in a herd can be huge. Fetal reabsorption or undefined infertility often remain undetected. Routine herds monitoring for exposure, controlling the introduction of potential agent carriers, appropriate biosafety procedures, and vaccination where possible are together the best security against abortion and stillbirth inducing disease. For biosecurity of local farms, we performed antibody titers of abortion and stillbirth related diseases such as bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis virus (IBRV), Neospora caninum, Toxoplasma gondii and Campylobacter fetus subsp venerealis. The blood samples were collected from 500 female Hanwoo over 1 year old of 100 farms in Jeonbuk eastern area. Champhylobater serological test was evaluated by the standard tube agglutination test (STAT) and other pathogen's antibodies were detected by indirect-enzyme linked immunoassay (I-ELISA). The seroprevalence of abortion and stillbirth inducing disease were BVDV 72.4%, IBRV 13.0%, N. caninum 1.2%, T. gondii 10.4% and C. venerealis 0.6%, irrespectively.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
• /
• v.40 no.2
• /
• pp.143-147
• /
• 2017

A Korean domestic short hair (1-year-old, male) presented with 2 to 3 weeks of seizures, aggressive behavior, vomiting, anorexia, and lethargy. The frequency of seizure had gradually increased from once a week to once every 3 hours. Physical and neurologic examination, diagnostic screening tests, including complete blood count (CBC), serum chemistry, electrolyte, coagulation test, X-ray, ultrasonography, and urinalysis were performed. Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV), Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) and Toxoplasma spp. All tested negative, but the Feline Corona Virus (FCoV) kit revealed a positive result. To determine the exact diagnosis, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed but yielded no specific findings. The patient was then diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy and treatment of phenobarbital was initiated. A month's treatment with phenobarbital proved ineffective as symptoms worsened. Zonisamide was then selected as an additional anticonvulsant. After adding zonisamide, symptoms improved, and seizures abated for 15 months. This is the first case report in South Korea describing the use of phenobarbital and zonisamide in the treatment of a cat with idiopathic epilepsy.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
• /
• v.38 no.1
• /
• pp.139-145
• /
• 1998

The Neospora sp. was isolated from the brain of 1 calf via continuous in vitro cultivation in Vero cell. Neospora tachyzoites were observed 45 days after inoculation of the homogenized brain suspension into the Vero cell. The isolated parasite (named tentatively as NCKB-1) was morphologically and ultrastructurally similar to the previously reported Neospora sp isolated in cattle (BPA-1, JPA-1). A comparison of the antigenic reactivity of cultivated tachyzoites with polyclonal antisera to Neospora caninum and Toxoplasma gondii confirmed that this protozoal isolate was similar to N caninum. This is the first report of successful isolation of Neospora sp from cattle in Korea.

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

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.58 no.5
• /
• pp.493-497
• /
• 2020

The purpose of this study is to find out the clusters with high toxoplasmosis risk to discuss the geographical pattern in 2 islands of Gyodong-myeon and Samsan-myeon in Ganghwa-gun, Korea. Seroepidemiological data of toxoplasmosis surveyed using rapid diagnostic tests for the residents in 2 islands from 2010 to 2013 were analyzed to detect clusters of the infection. The cluster was investigated using the SatScan program which is based on Kulldorff's scan statistic. The clusters were found with P-values in each region analyzed in the program, and the risk and patient incidence of specific areas can be examined by the values such as relative risk and log likelyhood ratio. Jiseok-ri was found to be a cluster in Gyodong-myeon and Ha-ri was the cluster in Samsan-myeon. This findings can be used to monitor and prevent toxoplasmosis infections occurring in vulnerable areas.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2021

This mini review focuses on foodborne illnesses and outbreaks caused by food-producing animals because statistical information of the foodborne illnesses is important in human health and food industry. Contaminated food results in 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths worldwide every year. The world population is currently 7.8 billion, and 56 million people die every year; of these, every year, 7.69% of people experience foodborne diseases, and 7.5% of annual deaths (56 million deaths) was died by foodborne illness in the world. A majority of such patients are affected by norovirus and Campylobacter. Listeria monocytogenes is the most fatal. In the United States, except for those caused by Campylobacter, the number of foodborne diseases did not decrease between 1997 and 2017, and cases caused by Toxoplasma gondii are still being reported (9 cases in 2017). The percentage of foodborne illnesses caused by food-producing animals was 10.4%-14.1% between 1999 and 2017 in the United States. In Europe, foodborne illnesses affect 23 million people every year and cause approximately 5,000 deaths. Europe has more Campylobacter- and Salmonella-related cases than in other countries. In Australia, the highest number of cases are due to Campylobacter, followed by Salmonella. In Korea, Escherichia coli followed by norovirus. Campylobacter- and Clostridium perfringens-related cases have been reported in Japan as well. This review suggests that Campylobacter, Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and E. coli, which are usually isolated from animal-source food products are associated with a high risk of foodborne illnesses.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.215-220
• /
• 2014

We analyzed 320 clinical samples of parasitic infections submitted to the Department of Environmental Biology and Medical Parasitology, Hanyang University from January 2004 to June 2011. They consisted of 211 nematode infections, 64 trematode or cestode infections, 32 protozoan infections, and 13 infections with arthropods. The nematode infections included 67 cases of trichuriasis, 62 of anisakiasis (Anisakis sp. and Pseudoterranova decipiens), 40 of enterobiasis, and 24 of ascariasis, as well as other infections including strongyloidiasis, thelaziasis, loiasis, and hookworm infecions. Among the cestode or trematode infections, we observed 27 cases of diphyllobothriasis, 14 of sparganosis, 9 of clonorchiasis, and 5 of paragonimiasis together with a few cases of taeniasis saginata, cysticercosis cellulosae, hymenolepiasis, and echinostomiasis. The protozoan infections included 14 cases of malaria, 4 of cryptosporidiosis, and 3 of trichomoniasis, in addition to infections with Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar, Entamoeba coli, Endolimax nana, Giardia lamblia, and Toxoplasma gondii. Among the arthropods, we detected 6 cases of Ixodes sp., 5 of Phthirus pubis, 1 of Sarcoptes scabiei, and 1 of fly larva. The results revealed that trichuriasis, anisakiasis, enterobiasis, and diphyllobothriasis were the most frequently found parasitosis among the clinical samples.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.215-222
• /
• 1993

In order to establish a useful cell culture system for T gondii we compared the degree of proliferation of T gondii tachyzoites among 8 different cell lines: 2 kinds of normal animal cells (MDCK-canine kidney cells; Vero-monkey kidney cells) and 6 kinds of human tumor cells (A 549, PC 14-lung cancer cells; SNU 1, SNU 16. Mlm 45-stomach cancer cells; HL-60-promyelocytic leukemia cells), through morphological observation and 3H-uracil uptake assay. The degree of susceptibility to infection with T gondii tachyzoites was highest in A 549 and PC 14 cells, medium in Vero, HL-60, MDCK and SNU 1, and lowest in SNU 16 and MBm 45 cells. The kinetics of T gondii multiplication during the post-Infection 60 hours were higllly dependent upon the dose of tachyzoites administered and the duration among the 8 tested fur the growth and multiplication of T gondii in vitro.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.131-134
• /
• 1995

When tachyzoites (RH strain) of Toxoplasmo gondii are injected intramuscularly, experimental mice survive up to 7 days, 1-2 days longer than those infected intraperitoneally. We observed sequential histopathological changes in inguinal Iymph nodes after intramuscular injection of tachyzoites to thighs of specific pathogen free (SPF) mice. Initial findings on 1 or 3 days after the injection were reactive germinal centers, distended sinuses and epithelioid cell clusters in cortical and paracortical regions. Later on 5 days after the injection, however, effacement of nodal structure with depletion of cells and focal necrosis were observed . Necrotizing Iymphadenitis in the experimental murine toxoplasmosis suggests the causal relation between T. gondii infection and the human disease.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.51 no.4
• /
• pp.485-488
• /
• 2013

The performance values of available techniques used in serodiagnosis of toxoplasmosis are satisfactory but they raise problems of equivocal and discordant results for very low IgG titers. Recently marketed, LDBio-Toxo II IgG Western blot (IB) showed an excellent correlation with the dye test. We estimated the proportion of equivocal and discordant results between the enzyme immunoassay Platelia Toxo IgG (EIA-IgG) and fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and assessed the usefulness of the IB as a confirmatory test. Out of 2,136 sera collected from pregnant women, 1,644 (77.0%) tested unequivocally positive and 407 (19.0%) were negative in both EIA-IgG and FAT. The remaining 85 (4%) sera showed equivocal or discordant results. Among them, 73 (85.9%) were positive and 12 (14.1%) were negative in IB. Forty-one (89.1%) equivocal sera in EIA-IgG and 46 (86.8%) equivocal sera in FAT were positive in IB. Reducing the cut-off values of both screening techniques improved significantly their sensitivity in detecting very low IgG titers at the expense of their specificity. In conclusion, equivocal results in routine-used techniques and their discordance in determination of the immune status in pregnancy women were not uncommon. IB test appeard to be highly useful in these situations as a confirmatory technique.