Journal List > J Korean Med Assoc > v.60(6) > 1043188

Lee: Ecological characteristics and current status of infectious disease vectors in South Korea

Abstract

In light of global climate change, the seasonal and geographical distribution of vector species, especially mosquitoes, chigger mites, and ticks, are of great importance for human beings residing in rural and urban environments. A total of 12 species belonging to 4 genera have been identified as vector mosquitoes in the Republic of Korea. The most common of the 56 mosquito species in this country from 2013 through 2015 was found to be a malaria vector, Anopheles sinensis s.l. (species ratio [SR] 52%); followed by a potential vector of West Nile virus, Aedes vexans nipponii (SR 38%); a Japanese encephalitis vector, Culex tritaeniorhynchus (SR 6%); a West Nile virus vector, Culex pipiens (SR 3%); and a dengue and Zika virus vector, Ae. albopictus (SR 0.3%). Of the scrub typhus vectors, Leptotrombidium scutellare is the predominant chigger mite in Gyongnam province and Jeju island, whereas L. pallidum is the predominant species in other areas of Korea. Ticks were found to be prevalent in most environmental conditions, and high levels of their activity were consistently observed from May to September. Haemaphysalis species of ticks were mostly collected in grasslands, whereas Ixodes species were frequently found in coniferous forests. Haemaphysalis longicornis, known as the main vector of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, was the predominant species and was widely distributed throughout the country.

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Table 1.
Reported cases of national infectious diseases from vectors in the Republic of Korea from 2007 through 2016 [2-4]
Classification of disease 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Malaria 2,227 1,052 1,345 1,772 826 542 445 638 699 673
Japanese encephalitis 7 6 6 26 3 20 14 26 40 28
Dengue fever 97 51 59 125 72 149 252 165 255 314
Chikungunya fever - - - - 0 0 2 1 2 10
West Nile fever - - - - 0 1 0 0 0 0
Zika virus infection - - - - - - - - - 16
Scrub typhus 6,022 6,057 4,995 5,671 5,151 8,604 10,365 8,130 9,513 11,107
Lyme borreliosis - - - - 2 3 11 13 9 27
SFTS - - - - - - 36 55 79 165
Q fever 12 19 14 13 8 10 11 8 27 85

SFTS, severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

Table 2.
Species and number of nocturnal mosquitoes collected with black light traps at 28 to 40 sites in 10 locations of the Republic of Korea from April through October (mean number/trap/night) [6-9]
Species No. of mosquitoes (%)
2011 2013 2014 2015
Anopheles spp. 344.4 (60.4) 739.2 (49.9) 1,364.1 (53.6) 557.2 (52.8)
Aedes vexans 128.5 (22.5) 537.3 (36.3) 1,008.5 (39.6) 389.2 (36.9)
Culex tritaeniorhynchus 66.1 (11.6) 131.4 (8.9) 92.9 (3.7) 64.8 (6.1)
Cx. pipiens 22.0 (3.9) 51.4 (3.5) 66.7 (2.6) 34.4 (3.3)
Armigeres subalbatus 7.9 (1.4) 14.2 (1.0) 9.5 (0.4) 7.1 (0.7)
Ochlerotatus dorsalis <0.1 (<0.1) 6.0 (0.4) 3.2 (0.1) 0.6 (0.1)
Cx. orientalis 1.1 (0.2) 1.0 (0.1) 1.3 (0.1) 0.9 (0.1)
Cx. bitaeniorhynchus 0.3 (0.1) 0.6 (<0.1) 0.5 (<0.1) 0.4 (<0.1)
Total 570.3 (100.0) 1,481.1 (100.0) 2,546.7 (100.0) 1,054.6 (100.0)
Table 3.
Species and number of diurnal mosquitoes collected at two sites with BioGents Sentinel traps from April through October in Busan (mean number/trap/night) [22,29]
Species No. of mosquitoes (%)
2013 2014 2015 2016
Aedes albopictus 2.1 (48.8) 1.6 (25.4) 6.6 (47.5) 6.9 (50.4)
Ochlerotatus togoi 1.9 (44.2) 4.4 (69.8) 5.9 (42.5) 5.3 (38.7)
Oc. koreicus 0.3 (7.0) 0.3 (4.8) 1.4 (10.1) 1.5 (11.0)
Total 4.3 (100.0) 6.3 (100.0) 13.9 (100.0) 13.7 (100.0)
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