Regarding to diagnosis for bovine brucellosis, more than one serological test should be conducted to confirm the infection by Brucella with a reliable result due to various factors including false positive serological reactions. In this study, we compared confirmatory serological tests to determine the appropriate way to detect and confirm the Brucella infection in South Korea. Several serological tests, including serum agglutination test (SAT), indirect (I)- and competitive (C)-ELISA, and fluorescence polarization assay (FPA), for detection of bovine brucellosis were performed with sera from 537 cattle. In addition, comparison of diagnostic efficacy was performed with bacterial isolation represented true positive. Of 537 serum samples, 426 (79.3% of prevalence), 433 (80.6%), 414 (77.1%), and 409 (76.2%) sera were positive for SAT, C-ELISA, I-ELISA, and FPA respectively. Based on the results of serology, the correlation among the serological tests revealed observed agreements of more than 92% with kappa (k) value of more than 0.77. The correlation between serological tests with bacterial isolation appeared observed agreements of between 79.9% and 84.7% with k value of between 0.42 and 0.59. Particularly, FPA recorded almost perfect agreements with C-ELISA and I-ELISA as well as the highest correlation with bacterial isolation. Accordingly, this investigation presented the comparison of correlation and diagnostic efficacy of serological tests for bovine brucellosis in South Korea. We suggest this finding will be a useful data to re-establish the potential serological diagnostic methods that can apply to maintain the low prevalence.

In Korea livestock farms breeding cattle have been suffering from re-emerging problems of Brucella (B.) abortus infection while steady decline of bovine brucellosis. Therefore, this study underscored the identification and association of etiological agent of brucellosis in cattle in South Korea. The incidence of brucellosis in cattle was analyzed by bacteriological and molecular methods in 187 brucellosis-suspicious farms of 11 regions between 2018 and 2020. Brucella isolates from various specimens were identified by Brucella-specific multiplex PCR. Epidemiological data were collected by local official veterinarians through history taking from farmers and animal data systems. In 230 of 560 cattle (40.9%) and 94 of 187 farms (50.3%), a total of 313 B. abortus were isolated from various specimens, the majority of isolates were from supramammary lymph node (41%). In epidemiological findings, the majority of positive cases were mainly caused by resurgence (43.7%) and unknown (37.2%). Of 94 positive cases isolated B. abortus, abortion in cattle infected by B. abortus occurred in 51 farms (54.3%) where led to resurgence in 30 farms and environmental survival of B. abortus in 9 farms. Consequently, these findings revealed the existence of etiological agent of bovine brucellosis in Korea, which still occurred at low levels in distinct regions where are allowed to call for persistent biosecurity. Thus, we highlight that brucellosis in Korea needs to take more effective control strategies with potential evidence. Moreover it is ultimately important to maintain a constant monitoring for eradication of brucellosis.

Brucellosis is the most common zoonosis worldwide, which is caused by Brucella spp. In humans, it can be mainly occurred by direct contact with infected animals or consumption of contaminated dairy products. This study focused on human brucellosis caused by B. melitensis discovered from Chinese worker in Korea in 2015. We investigated molecular epidemiological evidence to find the infection source. We first performed several PCR methods including 16S rRNA PCR, multiplex PCR and real-time PCR to identify Brucella species. We also conducted MLVA typing for epidemiological trace-back analysis. The isolate from the patient was confirmed to B. melitensis through Brucella-specific PCR. In clustering analysis with B. melitensis from foreign countries, this human isolate was correlated with B. melitensis isolates from humans and sheep in China by 99.9% similarity. Thus, we assumed the brucellosis patient has been already infected in China followed by migration to Korea according to molecular epidemiological analysis with history evidence. Moreover, we suggest it needs to take measures to reduce the risk for intercountry transmission of brucellosis due to the influx of infected people from abroad.

염화칼슘 농도를 달리한 쌈무의 조직감 개선 효과, 물리·화학적 특성 및 관능평가를 비교하였다. 염화칼슘 첨가 후 저장 전 쌈무들의 pH와 총산도 범위는 각각 약 3.8~4.0와 2.7~3.0(%, w/v)이었으며, 28일 동안의 저장기간 동안 저장 온도 4℃와 50℃의 시료들은 저장 전 초기 pH와 총산도의 범위를 유지하였다. 그러나 저장온도 25℃에서 쌈무 시료들은 저장 전 초기 pH 범위보다 0.5가 낮아졌고 총산도는 1.9~2.2(%, w/v)가 증가되어졌다. 염화칼슘의 첨가에 따른 쌈무 시료들의 색도를 측정한 결과, 28일 저장동안 4℃에서 저장된 쌈무 시료들은 현저한 차이를 나타내었으나(△E값 1.66~8.21) 50℃에서 저장된 시료들은 다른 계통의 색으로(△E값 23~27) 큰 변화를 보였다. 쌈무 시료들의 경도에 있어서, 저장온도 4℃와 25℃에서 28일 동안 저장된 쌈무 시료들의 경도는 저장 전 쌈무 시료들의 경도와 큰 차이를 보이지 않았고, 50℃에서는 염화칼슘 처리량이 증가 할수록 경도가 높게 유지되고 있음을 확인 할 수 있었다. 쌈무 시료들의 씹힘성에 있어서는 전반적으로 경도의 결과와 유사한 경향을 보였다. 이로써 염화칼슘처리로 쌈무의 조직감을 향상시킬 수 있음을 확인하였다. 4℃에서 28일 동안 저장된 쌈무 시료들의 관능평가 결과, 0.4% 염화칼슘이 첨가된 쌈무 시료가 맛, 경도와 전반적인 기호도에서 가장 높은 점수를 받아 유통 저장기간 동안 관능품질을 유지하면서 쌈무의 조직감을 유지시킬 수 있는 염화칼슘 첨가량이라 판단된다.