Seasonal Distribution of Ticks in Four Habitats near the Demilitarized Zone, Gyeonggi-do (Province), Republic of Korea

Abstract

This study describes the seasonal distribution of larvae, nymph, and adult life stages for 3 species of ixodid ticks collected by tick drag and sweep methods from various habitats in the Republic of Korea (ROK). Grasses less than 0.5 m in height, including herbaceous and crawling vegetation, and deciduous, conifer, and mixed forests with abundant leaf/needle litter were surveyed at United States (US) and ROK operated military training sites and privately owned lands near the demilitarized zone from April-October, 2004 and 2005. Haemaphysalis longicornis Neumann adults and nymphs were more frequently collected from April-August, while those of Haemaphysalis flava Neumann and Ixodes nipponensis Kitaoka and Saito were collected more frequently from April-July and again during October. H. longicornis was the most frequently collected tick in grass habitats (98.9%), while H. flava was more frequently collected in deciduous (60.2%) and conifer (57.4%) forest habitats. While more H. flava (54.1%) were collected in mixed forest habitats than H. longicornis (35.2%), the differences were not significant. I. nipponensis was more frequently collected from conifer (mean 8.8) compared to deciduous (3.2) and mixed (2.4) forests.

Molecular detection of Rickettsia species in ticks collected from the southwestern provinces of the Republic of Korea

“…Haemaphysalis longicornis , H. flava and I. nipponensis are commonly collected throughout Korea, while H. phasiana , A. testudinarium , I. pomerantzevi , I. persulcatus and I. ovatus have a limited geographical/habitat distribution and are collected much less frequently [22, 38, 39]. Tick-borne disease surveillance usually includes the detection of pools of ticks, as it is costly and untimely to assay for multiple agents within individual ticks [25].…”

“…Haemaphysalis longicornis is commonly collected from grasses and herbaceous vegetation, while H. flava is more commonly associated with forest habitats and I. nipponensis is collected similarly from both habitats throughout the ROK [22]. Haemaphysalis longicornis is commonly found in grassy areas that expose civilians and military populations to tick bites and associated pathogens, which not only include Rickettsia spp., but other bacteria and viruses of medical and veterinary importance [32–35, 41].…”

“…A total of 6,484 unengorged ticks (adults, nymphs and larvae) were collected by tick drags when ticks were active during June-October from the southwestern provinces (Jeollanam, Jeollabuk, Chungcheongnam and Chungcheongbuk) of Korea in 2013 as described by Chong et al [21, 22]. Ticks were identified to species level using morphological keys [23, 24] and placed in 2 ml cryovials according to collection date, species and stage of development ( n  = 6,484; 311 pools of 1–5 adults, 1–25 nymphs, and 1–69 larvae) (Table 1) [25].…”

Phylogenetic Analysis of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus in South Korea and Migratory Bird Routes Between China, South Korea, and Japan

“…In addition, the tick distribution matches the bird migration flyways between China, South Korea, and Japan. 1,4,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16] This also coincides with the occurrence of SFTS, suggesting that migratory birds may play a role in the dissemination of SFTSV bearing H. longicornis.…”

The emergence and cross species transmission of newly discovered tick-borne Bunyavirus in China

“…First, H. longicornis is the most abundant of the HYSV-positive ticks in the endemic regions, and widely distributed in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Korea, Japan, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and New Zealand [34][35][36][37][38]. Second, four migratory wild fowl species that are regular hosts of H. longicornis (Zoothera aurea, Turdus hortulorum, Halcyon coromanda, and Pitta nympha) are known to breed and migrate between China, South Korea, and Japan [39][40][41][42].…”