Detection of spotted fever and typhus group rickettsial infection in wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides koreensis) in Chonbuk province, Korea

Both the spotted fever and the typhus group rickettsioses are potential emerging arthropod-borne infectious disease complexes in Korea. Wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides koreensis) sheltered at the Korean Society for the Protection of Wild Animals, Chonbuk Branch, Korea, were sampled for the presence of spotted fever and typhus group rickettsial pathogens. Thirty-six serum samples of wild raccoon dogs were examined by an indirect fluorescent antibody test using type-specific YH strain Rickettsia japonica (spotted fever group rickettsia) and Wilmington strain Rickettsia typhi (typhus group rickettsia). The prevalence of sera that were seropositive was 30.5% (11/36) for the spotted fever group and 41.6% (15/36) for the typhus group. Five samples were seropositive for both antigens. This study is first to demonstrate rickettsial antibodies in wild raccoon dogs, and it provides seroepidemiologic evidence of the endemic presence of rickettsial agents in Korea.