• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.131-137
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• 2008

Pesticides are extensively used for the control of crop pests in agriculture and forestry. Organophosphate (OP) and carbamate pesticides are especially effective for the control of a variety of harmful insects. However, these cholinesterase inhibitors are also dangerous to non-target organisms (wildlife and other animals) because of their high acute toxicity. Most poisonings by pesticides occur as a result of misuse or accidental exposure, but intentional killing of unwanted animals also occurs. At the request of a local autonomous entity, we investigated wild bird poisonings by pesticides from 2003 to 2007. The 207 suspicious samples of pesticide poisoning based on the necropsy were analyzed by GC/NPD, GC/FPD, or GC/MSD. We looked for trends in the identification of pesticides in wild birds thought to have died from poisoning. Pesticides were determined in 59% of the total samples analyzed. Phosphamidon and monochrotophos were the most common pesticides identified, which amounted to 77% of the subtotal. Other OP and carbamate pesticides were also found in various concentrations from dead wild birds. The determined rates of pesticides were as high as 86% and 76% in 2003 and 2006, respectively, during an outbreak of avian influenza in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.193-199
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• 2018

As animal welfare issue becomes important, the European Union bans conventional cages for laying hens from 2012. So the alternative housing systems like floor pens, aviaries or free range systems have been suggested. From 2011 to 2014, we monitored 20 welfare-oriented laying hen farms in South Korea to figure out serological status of major viral diseases. During this period, total 3,219 blood samples were collected from the randomly selected chickens to test and evaluate the hemagglutination inhibition titers for low pathogenic avian influenza, Newcastle disease and egg drop syndrome '76. A total of 2,926 blood samples were tested through enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to assess the serological status of infectious bronchitis (IB). The distribution of ELISA titers for IB was various from almost 0 to 20,000 through the all weeks of age. Also, the antibody coefficient of variation for most of the diseases in this study was higher than those of typical cage layers. As this study was the first surveillance for major avian viral diseases of the animal welfare-oriented farms in South Korea, the results obtained from this study will help to determine what information and resources are needed to maintain better biosecurity and to improve the health and welfare of laying hen flocks.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.56.1-56.13
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• 2020

Background: The live bird market (LBM) plays an important role in the dynamic evolution of the avian influenza H5N1 virus. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to monitor the genetic diversity of the H5N1 viruses in LBMs in Indonesia. Methods: Therefore, the disease surveillance was conducted in the area of Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, and Jakarta Province, Indonesia from 2014 to 2019. Subsequently, the genetic characterization of the H5N1 viruses was performed by sequencing all 8 segments of the viral genome. Results: As a result, the H5N1 viruses were detected in most of LBMs in both bird' cloacal and environmental samples, in which about 35% of all samples were positive for influenza A and, subsequently, about 52% of these samples were positive for H5 subtyping. Based on the genetic analyses of 14 viruses isolated from LBMs, genetic diversities of the H5N1 viruses were identified including clades 2.1.3 and 2.3.2 as typical predominant groups as well as reassortant viruses between these 2 clades. Conclusions: As a consequence, zoonotic transmission to humans in the market could be occurred from the exposure of infected birds and/or contaminated environments. Moreover, new virus variants could emerge from the LBM environment. Therefore, improving pandemic preparedness raised great concerns related to the zoonotic aspect of new influenza variants because of its high adaptivity and efficiency for human infection.

• The Journal of Bigdata
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.13-22
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• 2019

This study was conducted with funding from the government (Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) in 2018 with support from the Agricultural, Food, and Rural Affairs Agency, 318069-03-HD040, and is based on artificial intelligence-based HPAI spread analysis and patterning. The inflow of highly pathogenic avian influenza is coming through migratory birds from abroad, but it is not known exactly what pathways provide the farm with the cause of the infection. And the transition between farms from the generated farms only assumes that the vehicle is the main cause, and the main cause of the spread is not exactly known. Based on the call detailed records (CDR) data provided by KT, the study aims to see how people visiting migratory bird-watching sites, presumed to be the site of the outbreak, will flow through infected farms.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.60-74
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• 2017

To facilitate prevention of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), a GIS is widely used for monitoring, investigating epidemics, managing HPAI-infected farms, and eradicating the disease. After the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 2010 and 2011, the government of the Republic of Korea (ROK) established the GIS-based Korean Animal Health Integrated System (KAHIS) to avert livestock epidemics, including HPAI. However, the KAHIS is not sufficient for controlling HPAI outbreaks due to lack of responsibility in fieldwork, such as sterilization of HPAI-infected poultry farms and regions, control of infected animal movement, and implementation of an eradication strategy. An outbreak prediction model to support efficient HPAI control in the ROK is proposed here, constructed via analysis of HPAI outbreak patterns in the ROK. The results show that 82% of HPAI outbreaks occurred in Jeolla and Chungcheong Provinces. The density of poultry farms in these regions were $2.2{\pm}1.1/km^2$ and $4.2{\pm}5.6/km^2$, respectively. In addition, reared animal numbers ranged between 6,537 and 24,250 individuals in poultry farms located in HPAI outbreak regions. Following identification of poultry farms in HPAI outbreak regions, an HPAI outbreak prediction model was designed using factors such as the habitat range for migratory birds(HMB), freshwater system characteristics, and local road networks. Using these factors, poultry farms which reared 6,500-25,000 individuals were filtered and compared with number of farms actually affected by HPAI outbreaks in the ROK. The HPAI prediction model shows that 90.0% of the number of poultry farms and 54.8% of the locations of poultry farms overlapped between an actual HPAI outbreak poultry farms reported in 2014 and poultry farms estimated by HPAI outbreak prediction model in the present study. These results clearly show that the HPAI outbreak prediction model is applicable for estimating HPAI outbreak regions in ROK.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.405-411
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• 2011

Avian influenza virus vaccines produced in oil-emulsified inactivated form with antigen content of at least 160 hemagglutinin units (HAU) induced immunity in birds. However, in addition to enhancing the effect of the adjuvant(s), other additional supplemented biological compounds included in inactivated vaccines could produce higher levels of antibody. We examined in chickens, Vietnamese ducks, and muscovy ducks the adjuvant effect of Sophy ${\beta}$-glucan (SBG), a ${\beta}$-1,3-1,6 glucan produced by the black yeast Aureobasidium pollulans strain AF0-202, when administered with an avian influenza H5 subtype vaccine. In Experiment 1, 40 chickens (ISA Brown hybrid), allocated to four groups of ten each, were immunized with Oil-H5N1(VN), Oil-H5N1(CN), Oil-H5N2(CN), and saline (control group), respectively. In Experiment 2, chickens (ISA Brown hybrid), muscovy ducks (French hybrid), and Vietnamese ducks (indigenous Vietnamese) were used to further assess the effect of SBG on immunogenicity of the Oil-H5N1(VN) Vietnamese vaccine. ELISA and hemagglutination inhibition (HI) assays were used to assess the antibody response. The H5 subtype vaccines initiated significantly higher immune responses in the animals dosed with SBG, with 1.0-1.5 $log_2$ higher HI titers and 10-20% ELISA seroconversion, compared with those not dosed with ${\beta}$-glucan. Notably, some of the animals dosed with SBG induced HI titers higher than 9.0 $log_2$ following boosting immunization. Taken together, our serial studies indicated that SBG is a potential effector, such as enhancing the immune response to the H5 vaccines tested.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2019

In South Korea, six large outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have occurred since the first confirmation in 2003 from chickens. For the past 15 years, HPAI outbreaks have become an annual phenomenon throughout the country and has extended to wider regions, across rural and urban environments. An understanding of the spatial epidemiology of HPAI occurrence is essential in assessing and managing the risk of the infection; however, local spatial variations of relationship between HPAI incidences in Korea and related risk factors have rarely been derived. This study examined whether spatial heterogeneity exists in this relationship, using a geographically weighted Poisson regression (GWPR) model. The outcome variable was the number of HPAI-positive farms at 252 Si-Gun-Gu (administrative boundaries in Korea) level notified to government authority during the period from January 2014 to April 2016. This response variable was regressed to a set of sociodemographic and topographic predictors, including the number of wild birds infected with HPAI virus, the number of wintering birds and their species migrated into Korea, the movement frequency of vehicles carrying animals, the volume of manure treated per day, the number of livestock farms, and mean elevation. Both global and local modeling techniques were employed to fit the model. From 2014 to 2016, a total of 403 HPAI-positive farms were reported with high incidence especially in western coastal regions, ranging from 0 to 74. The results of this study show that local model (adjusted R-square = 0.801, AIC = 954.5) has great advantages over corresponding global model (adjusted R-square = 0.408, AIC = 2323.1) in terms of model fitting and performance. The relationship between HPAI incidence in Korea and seven predictors under consideration were significantly spatially non-stationary, contrary to assumptions in the global model. The comparison between global Poisson and GWPR results indicated that a place-specific spatial analysis not only fit the data better, but also provided insights into understanding the non-stationarity of the associations between the HPAI and associated determinants. We demonstrated that an empirically derived GWPR model has the potential to serve as a useful tool for assessing spatially varying characteristics of HPAI incidences for a given local area and predicting the risk area of HPAI occurrence. Considering the prominent burden of HPAI this study provides more insights into spatial targeting of enhanced surveillance and control strategies in high-risk regions against HPAI outbreaks.

• Journal of Multimedia Information System
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.163-170
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• 2018

We developed a multicast communication packet radio protocol using a time-sharing tablet system ("wireless token ring") to achieve the efficient exchange of files among packet radio terminals attached to swans. This paper provides an overview of the system and the protocol of the packet communications. The packet device forming the main part of the transceiver developed is the Texas Instruments CC2500. This device consists of one call-up channel and one data transmission channel and could improve error frame correction using FEC (forward error correction) with 34.8 kbps MSK and receiving power of at least -64 dBm (output 1 dBm at distance of 200 m using 3 dBi antenna). A time-sharing framework was determined for the wireless token ring using call sign ordinals to prevent transmission right loss. Tests using eight stations showed that resend requests with the ARQ (automatic repeat request) system are more frequent for a receiving power supply of -62 dBm or less. A wireless token ring system with fixed transmission times is more effective. This communication protocol is useful in cases in which frequency resources are limited; the energy consumed is not dependent on the transmission environment (preset transmission times); multiple terminals are concentrated in a small area; and information (position data and vital data) is shared among terminals under circumstances in which direct communication between a terminal and the center is not possible. The method allows epidemiological predictions of avian influenza infection routes based on vital data and relationships among individual birds based on the network topology recorded by individual terminals. This communication protocol is also expected to have applications in the formation of multiple in vivo micromachines or terminals that are inserted into living organisms.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.817-826
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• 2018

The bursa of Fabricius (BF) is a central humoral immune organ unique to birds. Four bursal peptides (BP-I, BP-II, BP-III, and BP-IV) have been isolated and identified from the BF. In this study, the immunoadjuvant activities of BPs I to IV were examined in mice immunized with H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccine. The results suggested that BP-I effectively enhanced cell-mediated immune responses, increased the secretion of Th1 (interferon gamma)- and Th2 (interleukin-4)-type cytokines, and induced an improved cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to the H9N2 virus. BP-II mainly elevated specific antibody production, especially neutralizing antibodies, and increased Th1- and Th2-type cytokine secretion. BP-III had no significant effect on antibody production or cell-mediated immune responses compared to those in the control group. A strong immune response at both the humoral and cellular levels was induced by BP-IV. Furthermore, a virus challenge experiment followed by H&E staining revealed that BP-I and BP-II promoted removal of the virus and conferred protection in mouse lungs. BP-IV significantly reduced viral titers and histopathological changes and contributed to protection against H9N2 AIV challenge in mouse lungs. This study further elucidated the immunoadjuvant activities of BPs I to IV, providing a novel insight into immunoadjuvants for use in vaccine design.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.114-126
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• 2016

Domestic risk factors that are thought to be correlated with highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak are migratory birds and moving objects such as poultry farm vehicles. In particular, the commercial vehicles that routinely circulate the local and/or remote poultry farms produce are thought to be major HPAI risk factors in South Korea. In this study, the driving histories of the vehicles belonging to poultry farms and/or commercial companies registered in the Korea Animal Integrated System (KAHIS) were analyzed using statistical and social networking tools in a Geographic Information System (GIS) in order to understand the pattern of the HPAI (H5N8) outbreak that occurred in 2014 in South Korea. Based on the 2014 HPAI outbreak patterns, HPAI-infected poultry farms were categorized according to geological features. The HPAI-infected poultry farms were categorized as 'regional-accumulation', 'regional-distribution', 'metropolitan-accumulation', 'metropolitan-distribution' and 'national-distribution' in endemic or non-endemic regions. We were able to categorize most HPAI-infected poultry farms into the five proposed categories, but further studies are required to categorize all such farms. Based on this categorization system, we propose efficient but economical prevention boundaries in South Korea. We strongly believe that our research could hugely impact government decisions to estimate the prevention area.