LIn this study, we investigated the habitat characteristics of a Jeonju Duckjin lake in Jeonju City, Jeonbuk, in which a large group of reeve’s turtle(Mauremys reevesii)(endangered species Class II and natural monument No. 453 in Korea) was discovered. The lake where reeve’s turtle(M. reevesii) was discovered, was beside Jeonbuk National university. That lake was surrounded by lotuses, dam, and reeds. We found 12 reeve’s turtle(M. reevesii)(included with 2 juveniles), 30 red eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)(included with 4 juveniles), 22 river cooter(Pseudemys concinna)(included with 5 juveniles), and 6 Chinese stripe necked turtle(Mauremys sinensis)(included with 4 juveniles) from June to September, 2024, respectively. A number of red-eared sliders(Trachemys scripta elegans) which threaten the survival of reeve’s turtle(M. reevesii), were also found in and around the lake. Newborn turtles in this year were not observed. However, we estimated that natural breeding had sufficiently occurred since we observed many young turtles in the lake. Furthermore, the presence of young red-eared slider individuals can be a persistent problem for reeve’s turtle(M. reevesii) as they are competing species. In conclusion, in-situ conservation method should be considered for protecting the endangered turtle and their habitat.

Escherichia coli is one of the major causative infectious agents of diarrhea in preweaning and postweaning pigs and leads to a large economic loss worldwide. However, there is limited information on the distribution and virulence genes in E. coli isolated from diarrheic piglets, which also applies to the current status of pig farms in Korea. To investigate the prevalence of virulence-associated genes in E. coli related to diarrhea in piglets, the rectal swab samples of diarrheic piglets were collected from Seoul National University’s veterinary pathological department between 2022 and 2023. E. coli strains were identified using the VITEK II system. Two sets of multiplex PCRs and one single PCRs used to detect 10 E. coli virulence genes. As a result, a total of 145 E. coli isolates were identified encoding one or more of the virulence genes. Among them, the prevalence of individual virulence gene was as follows, piglets virulence genes were STa 58.6%(85/145), STb 22.1%(32/145), LT 15.2%(22/145), EAST1 24.8%(36/145), Stx2e 6.9%(10/145), F4 31.7%(46/145), F5 1.4%(2/145), F6 11.7%(17/145), F18 4.1%(6/145), and F41 0.7%(1/145) respectively. These results suggest that E. coli disease in piglets may not be associated with a single toxin or a major gene combination, but with more varied and complex toxins and their combinations in Korea.

Pathogenic Escherichia coli strains are known to cause edema disease (ED) and postweaning diarrhea (PWD) in piglets. Although the exact mechanisms of pathogenicity that lead to ED-PWD remain to be elucidated, we investigated whether another E. coli adhesin, the plasmid-encoded adhesin involved in diffuse adherence (AIDA) might also be present in ED-PWD-causing E. coli isolates. It was showed that E. coli strains attach to HEp-2 cell assay in three different patterns. Twenty-two isolates were from faeces of preweaned pigs and 36 isolates were from faeces of postweaned pigs. The base sequences for specific oligonucleotide primers of PCR used in this study were constructed based on the regions of conserved sequences between forward (5′-3′) ACAGTATCATATGGAGCCA and reverse (5′-3′) TGTGCGCCAGAACTATTA. Product size was 585 base pairs. A total of 58 AIDA-positive E. coli were used for cell adherence pattern analysis of HEp-2 cell assay. Forty three isolates showed three distinct patterns that were localized adherence (LA), diffuse adherence (DA) and aggregative adherence (AA) patterns respectively. But fifteen isolates were nonadherent. LA (14 isolates) pattern was the most common, followed by DA (13 isolates) and AA (9 isolates) pattern. And three isolates showed a combination of the LA and AA patterns and 4 isolates showed a combination of the DA and AA patterns. Escherichia coli strains that cause nonbloody diarrhea in infants are known to present three distinct patterns of adherence to epithelial cells, namely, localized (LA), diffuse (DA), and aggregative (AA) adherence.

The objective of this study was to detect and identify the bee mites that were related to the colony collapse disorder of the western species of honey bee. From July 6, 2023 to August 2, 2023, total 367 bee larvaes and 243 adults bee were observed by 100-fold and 200-fold magnification microscopy. As a result of direct visual and microscopic examination on honeybee bodies, larvae and pupae, a total of 2,688 bee mites were found. Of their bee mites, it were 9 of Tropilaelaps clareae, 130 of Varroa jacobsoni, and 2,549 of Varroa destructor, respectively. Tropilaelaps clareae showed 7 females, 1 male, and 1 larva, Varroa jacobsoni had 94 females, 5 males, and 31 larvae, and Varroa destructor had 2,162 females, 346 males, and 41 larvae, respectively. In order to reduce the damage of the apiary caused by bee mites, it is mainly dependent on pharmaceutical control, continuously.