A seasonal chigger-borne disease surveillance program was established at Geoje in March, April, October, and November, 2023. Three species of 45 wild rodents were collected by using Sherman traps, including Apodemus agrarius (Species Ratio; SR 88.9%), Crocidura spp. (SR 8.9%), Micromys minutus (SR 2.2%) in Geoje, 2023. A total of 2,597 chiggers were collected from three species of the rodents in Geoje. The chigger mites were collected from A. agrarius (Chigger Index; CI 64.9) and C. spp. (CI 0.3) for Geoje. In the collection environments, a total number of 734, 659, 172, 520, and 512 chiggers were collected from a reservoir, a ditch, a rice paddy, a field, and a hill, respectively. In the results of the isolation of Orientia tsutsugamushi from the chigger mites, no pathogens were detected from the DNA of the 62 pools of the mites using a Polymerase Chain Reaction method in 2023.

A tick survey was conducted to monitor ticks using tick traps attached dry ice method at each four sites in Ulju and Gimhae counties, Gyeongsangnam-do from April to November, 2023. Two species belonging to one genera were collected with tick traps. A total of 1,064 ticks were collected as Haemaphysalis longicornis (Trap Index; TI 11.0), Haemaphysalis flava (TI <0.1) in Ulju and A total of 843 ticks were collected as Haemaphysalis longicornis (Trap Index; TI 8.7), Haemaphysalis flava (TI 0.1) in Gimhae 2023. Haemaphysalis longicornis was the most frequently collected, representing 99.2% in Ulju, 98.9% in Gimhae. In the collection environments, a total number of 685, 268, 64, and 47 ticks were collected from a glassland, a copse, a mountain path, and a grave of Ulju a total number of 469, 216, 83, and 75 ticks were collected from a glassland, a copse, a Grave, and a mountain path of Gimhae respectively. In the results of the isolation of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) from the ticks, no pathogens were detected from RNA of 101 pools (Ulju), 98 pools (Gimhae) of the ticks using a Polymerase Chain Reaction method in 2023.

The vector mosquito surveillance is important when recommending prevention and control measures. The surveillance of the vectors were conducted at a total of 7 locations with light emitting diode (LED traps) and BG-Sentinel traps from March to November, 2023 in Gyeongnam province. In the surveillance, a total of 13 species belonging to seven genera were collected in a total of 6,537 females and 51.9/trap/night (Trap Index; TI) in 2023. Among the collection sites, Gangseo-gu at the pigsty in Busan with a LED trap recorded the highest TI 60.6 (Species Ratio; SR 65.6%) for Culex tritaeniorhynchus females in 2023. Each one of Cx. tritaeniorhynchus female was firstly collected for 2023 at Eulsukdo in Busan at 22th March. In the results of isolation of viral RNA, Flavivirus were positive in one pool (Chaoyang virus; 30 individuals) of Aedes vexans and negative in 341 pools (4,152 individuals) of 12 mosquito species including Cx. tritaeniorhynchus, Cx. pipiens, Aedes vexans, Ae. albopictus, and Ochlerotatus togoi in 2023.

There are an increasing number of reports that job related factors are associated with hypertension, sleep deprivation, obesity and diabetes. This study analyzed the relationship of working type, working hours and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The study’s subjects were 2,777 employees (1,446 males and 1,331 females) over 19 years old and their data was from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey (2015). The type of work was divided into day work and shift work. The working hours were divided into less than 40 hours, 40 to 49 hours, 50 to 59 hours and 60 hours or more per week. As a result of this study, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 26.4% of the males and 19.1% of the females. Generally there was no relationship between metabolic syndrome and type of work (day work and shift work). As a result of analysis of working hours and metabolic syndrome, the workers who worked 40-49 hr were associated with a decreased prevalence of metabolic syndrome as compared to that of workers who worked less than 40 hr (odds ratio: 0.47, 95% confidence interval: 0.24-0.95, p<0.05). Further, positive relationships were found between the number of work hours and the prevalence metabolic syndrome for specific females who worked over 40 hr/wk. It can be concluded from the results that it is important to help workers avoid metabolic syndrome through setting appropriate work hours.