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Isolation and genetic characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi from patients with scrub typhus in Gyeongsangnam-do, 2015
- Date2017-12-14 19:26
- Update2017-12-14 19:26
- DivisionDivision of Strategic Planning for Emerging Infectious Diseases
- Tel043-719-7271
Isolation and genetic characterization of Orientia tsutsugamushi from patients with scrub typhus in Gyeongsangnam-do, 2015
Shin Min-Kyoung, Lee Woo-Kon
Department of Microbiology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine
Lee Kyeoung Min, Hwang Kyu Jam
Pathogen Resource TF, Center for Infectious Diseases, KNIH, KCDC
Tsutsugamushi disease, also known as scrub typhus, which is endemic to an Asia-Pacific region, has increased its incidence and caused annually around 10 thousand patients in Korea in the past several years. In the present study, we isolated 44 Orientia tsutsugamushi, as a causative agent of scrub typhus, from the patients with febrile illness accompanied with or without an eschar in Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. These isolates were characterized by genetic analysis of the major outer membrane protein, the 56-kDa type-specific antigen (TSA56), which is unique to O. tsutsugamushi. Two types of sequences of tsa56, designated by JJ1 and JJ2, were determined from 37 and 7 isolates of the 44 isolates, respectively. JJ1 and JJ2 showed 74.7-90.8% identity in nucleotide sequence and 66.1-90.5% identity in amino acid sequence with 34 reference strains except for Boryong and Kuroki. JJ1 and JJ2 had 100 and 99.9% nucleotide identity to Boryong strain, and 99.9 and 99.8 % to Kuroki, which has been known to be similar to Boryong, respectively. In addition, they showed 77.9-81.4% nucleotide identity with the cluster of Gilliam-related genotypes, whereas they showed higher nucleotide identity (89.6-90.8%) with the cluster of Karp-related genotypes. To our knowledge, this is the first report to isolate O. tsutsugamushi and characterize their genotype as the Boryong in Jinju and western Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea, even though it has been reported that the Boryong was the predominant genotype in isolates from chiggers, domestic rodents, and patients in the southern part of Korea. Furthermore, our isolates could be useful source to study on the pathophysiology and epidemiology of scrub typhus in Korea.
Keywords: Orientia tsutsugamushi, Scrub typhus, Incidence, Genetic analysis, Genotype
Shin Min-Kyoung, Lee Woo-Kon
Department of Microbiology, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine
Lee Kyeoung Min, Hwang Kyu Jam
Pathogen Resource TF, Center for Infectious Diseases, KNIH, KCDC
Tsutsugamushi disease, also known as scrub typhus, which is endemic to an Asia-Pacific region, has increased its incidence and caused annually around 10 thousand patients in Korea in the past several years. In the present study, we isolated 44 Orientia tsutsugamushi, as a causative agent of scrub typhus, from the patients with febrile illness accompanied with or without an eschar in Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea. These isolates were characterized by genetic analysis of the major outer membrane protein, the 56-kDa type-specific antigen (TSA56), which is unique to O. tsutsugamushi. Two types of sequences of tsa56, designated by JJ1 and JJ2, were determined from 37 and 7 isolates of the 44 isolates, respectively. JJ1 and JJ2 showed 74.7-90.8% identity in nucleotide sequence and 66.1-90.5% identity in amino acid sequence with 34 reference strains except for Boryong and Kuroki. JJ1 and JJ2 had 100 and 99.9% nucleotide identity to Boryong strain, and 99.9 and 99.8 % to Kuroki, which has been known to be similar to Boryong, respectively. In addition, they showed 77.9-81.4% nucleotide identity with the cluster of Gilliam-related genotypes, whereas they showed higher nucleotide identity (89.6-90.8%) with the cluster of Karp-related genotypes. To our knowledge, this is the first report to isolate O. tsutsugamushi and characterize their genotype as the Boryong in Jinju and western Gyeongsangnam-do, Korea, even though it has been reported that the Boryong was the predominant genotype in isolates from chiggers, domestic rodents, and patients in the southern part of Korea. Furthermore, our isolates could be useful source to study on the pathophysiology and epidemiology of scrub typhus in Korea.
Keywords: Orientia tsutsugamushi, Scrub typhus, Incidence, Genetic analysis, Genotype
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