Distribution of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus and Antiviral Antibodies in Wild and Domestic Animals in Oita Prefecture, Japan

Overview

Journal Am J Trop Med Hyg

Specialty Tropical Medicine

Date 2022 Feb 28

PMID 35226873

Authors

Takehiro Hashimoto

Takaaki Yahiro

Kentaro Yamada

Kazunori Kimitsuki

Minami W Okuyama

Akiko Honda

Miki Kato

Hiroshi Narimatsu

Kazufumi Hiramatsu

Akira Nishizono

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging life-threatening infectious disease caused by the tickborne SFTS virus (SFTSV), first identified in China in 2009 and then in Japan in 2013. Human SFTS cases were reported to be concentrated in western Japan, but the epidemiological conditions of SFTSV infection in a specific region are still obscure. We performed an epidemiological study of SFTSV in Oita Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, located in western Japan. For our research, we collected sera from wild and domestic animals (deer, wild boars, raccoons, cats, and dogs) and ticks from January 2010 to November 2020 in Oita. The anti-SFTSV antibody positivity rate of deer in 2014 was significantly higher than that in 2011 (65% versus 27%, P < 0.001). The anti-SFTSV antibody positivity rates of deer, wild boars, raccoons, wild dogs, domestic dogs, and domestic cats were 55%, 12%, 27%, 1.8%, 0.53%, and 1.4%, respectively. Moreover, RT-PCR could not detect SFTSV in any tick sample. Of the six areas of Oita Prefecture, only the Eastern area showed no incidence or possibility of SFTSV infection among wild and domestic animals, ticks, and human beings. Further investigation is required to assess whether local seroepidemiology in animals will help assess the risk of SFTSV infections in inhabitants.

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