Yoo et al.
Serological evidence of tick-borne encephalitis virus infection in South Korea, 2015-2018
Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2020, in press, doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101408
In South Korea, the European subtype of TBE virus has been isolated in three provinces from three different tick species, Haemaphysalis longicornus, H. flava and Ixodes nipponensis as well as from rodents and wild boar. However, no human TBE cases have been reported so far.
A seroprevalence study has been carried out among the agricultural human population (farmers) of rural areas of Jeju Island in South Korea from January 2015 to December 2018: of 321 samples collected, 313 were tested by IgM- and IgG-ELISA. A total of 1.3% were tested IgG-positive and 0.63% were IgM-positive. None of the six participants, who have been tested positive, reported TBE-like symptoms three years before sample collection.
Although no neutralization tests have been carried out, these data indicate the possibility of TBE among individuals in South Korea, and further TBE virus seroprevalence studies are warranted in South Korea.