Current Status of Tick-Borne Diseases in South Korea

Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2019 Apr;19(4):225-233. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2018.2298. Epub 2018 Oct 17.

Abstract

Background: Bites with tick-borne pathogens can cause various bacterial, viral, or parasitic diseases in humans. Tick-transmitted diseases are known as contributing factors to the increasing incidence and burden of diseases. The present article investigated the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases in South Korea.

Methods: The incidence and distribution of common tick-borne diseases in Korea (Lyme disease, Q fever, and severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome [SFTS]) were investigated and analyzed, using data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) infectious disease reporting system. A literature review was compiled on the current status of uncommon tick-borne diseases (Rickettsia, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, bartonellosis, tularemia, tick-borne encephalitis, and babesiosis).

Results and conclusions: In South Korea, SFTS is an emerging disease, showing a rapid increase in reports since 2012, with high mortality. Likewise, reports of Lyme disease and Q fever cases have also been rapidly increasing during 2012-2017, although caution should be taken when interpreting these results, considering the likely influence of increased physician awareness and reporting of these diseases. Other tick-borne diseases reported in South Korea included spotted fever group rickettsiae, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, tularemia, Bartonella, and babesiosis. Evidences on human infection with tick-borne encephalitis virus and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever were recently unavailable, but both need constant monitoring.

Keywords: sp; Korea; Lyme disease; Q fever; severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome; tick-borne.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacterial Infections / epidemiology
  • Bacterial Infections / transmission
  • Humans
  • Parasitic Diseases / epidemiology
  • Parasitic Diseases / transmission
  • Republic of Korea / epidemiology
  • Tick-Borne Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Tick-Borne Diseases / transmission
  • Virus Diseases / epidemiology
  • Virus Diseases / transmission