Black light traps were used to measure the seasonal and geographical distribution of Culicoides spp. (biting midges or no-see-ums) at 9 cowsheds in the southern half of the Republic of Korea (ROK) from June through October 2010. A total of 25,242 Culicoides females (24,852; 98.5%) and males (390; 1.5%) comprising of 9 species were collected. The most commonly collected species was Culicoides punctatus (73.0%) followed by C. arakawae (25.7%), while the remaining 7 species accounted for <1.0% of all Culicoides spp. collected. The mean number of Culicoides spp. collected per trap night (Trap Index [TI]) was highest for C. punctatus (409.3), followed by C. arakawae (144.2), C. tainanus (4.1), C. oxystoma (1.2), C. circumscriptus (0.7), C. homotomus (0.6), C. erairai (0.4), C. kibunensis (0.3), and C. nipponensis (0.04). Peak TIs were observed for C. punctatus (1,188.7) and C. arakawae (539.0) during July and August, respectively. C. punctatus and C. arakawae have been implicated in the transmission of arboviruses and other pathogens of veterinary importance that adversely impact on animal and bird husbandry.
Animals ; Cattle ; Ceratopogonidae/classification/*growth & development ; Female ; *Housing, Animal ; Male ; Phylogeography ; Republic of Korea ; Seasons

Comprehensive quarterly serosurveillance on scrub typhus in small mammals collected from military training sites located near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), northern Gyeonggi-do (Province), ROK was conducted to determine the potential rodent-borne and associated ectoparasite disease risks to military personnel. A total of 1,196 rodents and insectivores representing 8 species, Apodemus agrarius (87.3%, n = 1,044), Mus musculus (5.4%, n = 65), Crocidura lasiura (3.3%, n = 40), Microtus fortis (2.6%, n = 31), Micromys minutus (0.3%, n = 4), Tscherskia triton (0.3%, n = 4), Rattus norvegicus (0.3%, n = 4), and Myodes regulus (0.3%, n = 4) were assayed for the presence of antibodies to Orientia tsutsugamushi. O. tsutsugamushi antibodies were detected in 6 of 8 species and seroprevalence determined; A. agrarius (45.6%), M. musculus (23.1%), M. fortis (48.4%), M. minutus (50.0%), T. triton (50.0%), and R. norvegicus (25.0%). A total of 31,184 chigger mites collected from 508 rodents and insectivores were slide-mounted and 10 species belonging to 4 genera were identified. Leptotrombidium pallidum (53.4%) was the most frequently collected, followed by L. palpale (15.7%), Neotrombicula tamiyai (14.3%), L. orientale (10.7%), L. zetum (3.1%), Walchia fragilis (2.1%), and L. gemiticulum (0.8%), while the remaining 3 species, L. subintermedium, N. gardellai, and Euschoengastia koreaensis were rarely observed (prevalence < 10%). In contrast to previous surveys, higher chigger indices of the primary scrub typhus vectors, L. pallidum (165.4), L. orientale (45.0), and L. palpale (21.4), were observed during the spring season.
Animals ; Antibodies, Bacterial/immunology ; Arachnid Vectors/classification/*microbiology ; Disease Reservoirs/classification/microbiology/*parasitology ; Humans ; Military Facilities ; Orientia tsutsugamushi/*immunology/isolation & purification ; Republic of Korea ; Rodentia/classification/*immunology/microbiology/*parasitology ; Scrub Typhus/microbiology/*transmission/*veterinary ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Trombiculidae/classification/*microbiology

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.
Animals ; Demography ; *Ecosystem ; Republic of Korea ; *Seasons ; Ticks/*classification/*physiology

Biting midges (Culicoides: Ceratopogonidae) were collected by Mosquito Magnet(R) traps at the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission (NNSC) camp and Daeseongdong village inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and near the military demarcation line (MDL) separating North and South Korea and at Warrior Base (US Army training site) and Tongilchon 3 km south of the DMZ in northern Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea (ROK), from May-October 2010-2012, to determine their seasonal distributions. A total of 18,647 Culicoides females (18,399; 98.7%) and males (248; 1.3%) comprising 16 species were collected. Overall, the most commonly collected species was Culicoides nipponensis (42.9%), followed by C. erairai (29.2%), C. punctatus (20.3%), C. arakawae (3.3%), C. pallidulus (1.8%), and C. circumscriptus (1.4%), while the remaining 10 species accounted for only 1.1% of all Culicoides spp. collected. The seasonal distribution of C. nipponensis was bimodal, with high numbers collected during May-June and again during September. C. erairai was more frequently collected during June-July, followed by sharply decreased populations from August-October. C. punctatus was collected in low numbers from May-September with high numbers collected during October. C. erairai was predominantly collected from the NNSC camp (85.1% of all C. erairai collected) located adjacent to the MDL at Panmunjeom in the northernmost part of Gyeonggi-do (Province), while other sites yielded low numbers of specimens.
Animals ; Ceratopogonidae/*classification/*growth & development ; Democratic People's Republic of Korea ; Female ; Male ; Republic of Korea ; *Seasons

The 65th Medical Brigade and Public Health Command District-Korea, in collaboration with the Migratory Bird Research Center, National Park Research Institute, conducted migratory bird tick surveillance at Sogugul and Gaerin Islands (small rocky bird nesting sites), Jeollanam-do (Province), Republic of Korea (ROK), on 30 July and 1 August 2009. Breeding seabirds captured by hands in their nesting burrows were banded, identified to species, and carefully examined for ticks during the nesting season. A total of 9 Ornithodoros sawaii larvae were removed from 4 adult Hydrobates monorhis (Swinhoe's storm petrel). The identification of the larvae of O. sawaii collected from migratory seabirds were molecularly confirmed using mitochondrial 16S rDNA primer sets.
Academies and Institutes ; Adult ; Argasidae ; Birds ; Breeding ; Cooperative Behavior ; DNA, Ribosomal ; Hand ; Humans ; Islands* ; Jeollanam-do* ; Larva* ; Ornithodoros* ; Public Health ; Republic of Korea* ; Seasons ; Ticks

A tick survey was conducted to determine the relative abundance and distribution of ticks associated with selected mammals in the Republic of Korea (ROK) during 2008-2009. A total of 918 ticks were collected from 76 mammals (6 families, 9 species) captured at 6 provinces and 3 Metropolitan Cities in ROK. Haemaphysalis longicornis (54.4%) was the most frequently collected tick, followed by Haemaphysalis flava (28.5%), Ixodes nipponensis (7.6%), Ixodes pomerantzevi (4.8%), Ixodes persulcatus (4.6%), and Haemaphysalis japonica (0.1%). Adults (57.0%) and nymphs (28.7%) of Ixodes and Haemaphysalis spp. were collected most frequently from medium or large mammals in this survey, while few larvae (14.3%) were collected. Hydropotes inermis was the most frequently captured mammal (52.6%), with a 16.4 tick index and 5 of 6 species of ticks collected during this survey. H. longicornis (69.7%) was the predominant tick collected from H. inermis, followed by H. flava (22.2%), I. persulcatus (6.1%), I. nipponensis (1.8%), and H. japonica (0.2%).
Animals ; Mammals/*parasitology ; Prevalence ; Republic of Korea ; Tick Infestations/epidemiology/parasitology/*veterinary ; Ticks/*classification

Biting midges belonging to the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) were collected by Mosquito Magnet(R) and black light traps at 5 sites on Jeju-do, Republic of Korea (Korea), from May-November 2013 to determine species diversity and seasonal distribution. A total of 4,267 specimens were collected, of which 99.9% were female. The most common species was Culicoides tainanus (91.8%), followed by C. lungchiensis (7.2%) and C. punctatus (0.6%), while the remaining 4 species accounted for <0.5% of all Culicoides spp. that were collected. High numbers of C. tainanus were collected in May, followed by decreasing numbers through August, and then increasing numbers through November when surveillance was terminated. Peak numbers of C. lungchiensis were collected during September, with low numbers collected from May-August and October-November. The presence of C. lungchiensis in Korea was confirmed by morphological and molecular analyses.
Animals ; *Biodiversity ; Ceratopogonidae/classification/*growth & development ; Female ; Insect Vectors/classification/*growth & development ; Male ; Phylogeny ; Republic of Korea ; Seasons