Molecular and serological surveillance of equine piroplasmosis in the
Republic of Korea between 2016 and 2017
Abstract
Equine piroplasmosis (EP), a tick-borne disease affecting horses, is
caused by Babesia caballi and Theileria equi. We investigate antigen and
antibody of EP in whole bloods and sera of horses in the Republic of
Korea during 2016-2017. We collected 1,650 whole bloods and sera of
horses in 16 regions and 222 farms to examine antigen and antibody of EP
by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of 18S rRNA gene and enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. T. equi antigen and antibody
was detected in 1 of 1,650 samples (0.06%). Phylogenetic analysis of
18S rRNA revealed that T. equi was highly homologous with the strains
from China, Mongolia, or Spain. At EP-positive ranch, 52 and 10 ticks
were collected in 2016 and 2017, respectively. All of them were
identified as Haemaphysalis longicornis, but EP pathogens were not
detected from the collected ticks. From 1,650 whole bloods, 2 of
Theileria spp. were also detected and highly homologous with T. buffeli,
T. luwehshuni, and T. orientalis group. EP infectious status was very
low in Korea, and routine surveillance should be needed to attain the
free status of EP in Korea.