Isolation and characterization of Brucella abortus isolates from wildlife species in South Korea
Kor. J. Vet. Res. 56(3): 147~153
Quang Lam Truong, Kiju Kim, Jong-Taek Kim, Moon Her, Suk-Chan Jung, Tae-Wook Hahn
Abstract: A total of 782 blood and 465 tissue samples from 1,039 wild animals and 127 dairy goats were collected
from January 2011 to December 2013 in 10 provinces of South Korea and tested for the presence of brucellosis. The
Rose Bengal test revealed that 8.0% (52/650) of the serum samples were seropositive, while 4.2% (33/782) of the
serum samples were positive for Brucella antibodies by competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Of the 650
sera examined, only 16 (2.5%) were positive by both serological tests. Direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay
using B4/B5 primers for Brucella abortus (BCSP31) revealed the prevalence of Brucella to be 26.5% (129/487) in blood
samples and 21% (98/465) in tissue samples while, 16S rRNA PCR detected Brucella DNA in 6.8% (33/487) and 2.6%
(12/465) in blood and tissue samples, respectively. Of PCR-positive samples, only 6.2% (30/487) of blood samples and
2.4% (11/465) of tissue samples were found to be positive by both BCSP31 and 16S rRNA PCRs. However, Brucella
strains were isolated by blood culture from only two out of 487 blood samples (0.4%). This characterization and
identification of pathogenic Brucella isolates is the first to clearly indicate that the organisms were Brucella abortus biovar 1.
Keywords: Brucella abortus, isolation, polymerase chain reaction, serology, wildlife