To inspect the norovirus contamination of groundwater in South Korea, a nationwide study was performed in the summer (June to August) and winter (October to December) of 2008. Three-hundred sites designated by the government ministry were inspected. Water samples were collected for analysis of water quality, microorganism content, and viral content. Water quality was assessed by temperature, pH, turbidity, residual chlorine, and nitrite nitrogen content. Microorganism contents were analyzed bacteria, total coliforms, Escherichia coli, and bacteriophage. Virus analyses included panenterovirus and norovirus. Two primer sets were used for the detection of norovirus genotypes GI and GII, respectively. Of 300 samples, 65 (21.7%) were norovirus positive in the summer and in 52 (17.3%) were norovirus positive in the winter. The genogroup GI noroviruses that were identified were GI-1, GI-2, GI-3, GI-4, GI-5, GI-6, and GI-8 genotypes; those in the GII genogroup were GII-4 and GII-Yuri genotypes. The analytic data showed correlative relationships between the norovirus detection rate and the following parameters: water temperature and turbidity in physical-chemical parameters and somatic phage in microbial parameters. It is necessary to periodically monitor waterborne viruses that frequently cause epidemic food poisoning in South Korea for better public health and sanitary conditions.
Abstract. We determined the full-length genome sequence of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) K94P05 isolated in Korea. Sequence analysis showed that the 10,963-nucleotide-long RNA genome of K94P05 was 13 or 14 nucleotides shorter than the genome of other JEV isolates because of a deletion in the 3Ј noncoding region of K94P05. Compared with sequences of other JEV isolates, the full-length nucleotide sequence showed 89.0-89.6% homology, and the deduced amino acid sequence showed between 96.4-97.3% homology. A region of ϳ 60 nucleotides immediately downstream of the open reading frame stop codon of K94P05 showed high sequence variability as compared with other JEV isolates. K94P05 formed a distinct group within a phylogenetic tree established with the full-length genome sequences. Cross-neutralization studies showed that polyclonal antibodies to Korean isolates were 3 times better at neutralizing the Korean isolates than antibodies to Nakayama-NIH. These findings suggest that Korean JEV K94P05 is genetically and antigenically distinct from other Asian JEV isolates.
This study was performed to analyze epidemiological and molecular characteristics of coxsakievirus (CV) B1 infection associated with severe neonatal illness cases and death in Korea during 2008-2009. Through a nationwide surveillance program, specimens were collected from 104 patients infected with CVB1. The detection of enteroviruses (EVs) from specimens was subjected to a diagnostic real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in the 5'-non-coding region (NCR). A semi-nested PCR was conducted to amplify sequences from the VP1 region and sequence comparison was performed with reference strains registered in Genbank. Male-to-female ratio confirmed approximately 5:4. The major clinical manifestation of patients infected with CVB1 was aseptic meningitis (55.8%). The other clinical symptoms were herpangina or hand-foot-mouth disease (22.1%) and neonatal sepsis (7.7%). The sequences of CVB1 isolates were divided into four genetic clusters (A-D) with at least 15% diversity between the clusters. Almost all the CVB1 isolates in Korea from 2008 to 2009 were in cluster D (except for 2 cases). The homology relationship was also similar between the Korean CVB1 strains and US strain (above 93%). It is possible that Korean CVB1 isolates found during 2008-2009 originated from the US strains found during 2006-2008. The identification of CVB1 in South Korea shows the potential of EVs to cause serious disease in an unpredictable fashion.
Widespread outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza occurred in South Korea during 2010. In response to the culling of many animals to attenuate the spread of disease, South Korea used mass burial sites to dispose of the large number of carcasses; consequently, concerns about groundwater contamination by leachate from these burial sites are increasing. Groundwater is one of the main sources of drinking water, and its cleanliness is directly related to public health. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the safety of groundwater around the burial sites (total of 600 sites). A total of 1,200 groundwater samples were collected though the country, and microbial analysis was conducted during two time periods: during the spring (n = 600; April to June 2012) and after rainfall (n = 600; August to October, 2012; fall). Fecal coliform and Escherichia coli were detected in 173 (14.4%) and 85 (7.1%) of the 1,200 samples, respectively. Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. each were detected only once (0.083%). Clostridium perfringens was detected from 7 groundwater samples (0.583%), and E. coli O157:H7 was not detected. With respect to norovirus, only the GII type was detected from six groundwater samples (0.5%), and enterovirus was detected in 15 groundwater samples (1.25%). The frequency of E. coli that we detected was lower than that found in previous studies conducted in South Korea, but we detected higher frequency of fecal coliform than that observed in a previous report. The contamination frequencies of Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp. were very low, but C. perfringens, which could be an indicator of fecal pollution, was detected in seven regions. Overall, the results of the present study indicate a low possibility of contamination from burial sites. However, consistent monitoring is required to prevent microbial contamination of groundwater near the burial sites.
Acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) is described as sudden onset of flaccid paralysis in one or more limbs in children caused by polioviruses (PVs). PV eradication is achieved through intensive immunization and AFP attentive surveillance, according to the World Health Organization. Since 1998, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has conducted surveillance system. This is an overview of surveillance in the Republic of Korea during the 10-year period from 2002 to 2011. The surveillance system for wild PV eradication was conducted through reporting and laboratory testing. Cell culture isolates were identified by neutralization tests using standard polyclonal antisera typing. The molecular methods were used for further characterization to improve specificity. For genotyping, semi-nested RT-PCR was used to amplify part of the viral protein 1 gene. Patients below 5 years of age accounted for the largest proportion of cases, and a positive association between age and incidence was found. In the total 285 cases, Guillain-Barré syndrome was the major leading causes of AFP. Non-polio enterovirus was detected in some AFP patients. EV71 was detected in 21 cases and Coxsackievirus (C) A2, CA6, CA9, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, and Echovirus (E) 25, E30, Sabin strain polio 2, polio 1 and 3 were also detected in some patients. The present study represents a comprehensive 10-year country-based survey of AFP in the Republic of Korea. This surveillance could provide better understanding of the epidemiologic pattern, and clinical manifestations associated with specific genotypes of AFP in the Republic of Korea.
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