Serological monitoring on brucellosis in livestock of Korea

(Received: July 23, 2014; Revised: September 16, 2014; Accepted: October 13, 2014)Abstract : In Korea, brucellosis has been reported periodically in cattle and rarely in dogs; however, it has not previouslybeen screened in domestic animals such as elk, pigs and goats. To investigate the serological prevalence, serum sampleswere taken from the aforementioned animals annually during 2007-2013 and screened by the rose-bengal test (RBT)or modified RBT, after which positive sera were evaluated by the standard tube agglutination test (STAT). Finally,RBT and STAT-positive sera were confirmed by competitive-ELISA. Brucella abortus biovar 1 was isolated from threeelk that were shown to be positive serologically in 2008. There was no evidence of brucellosis in pigs. Based onserological monitoring and investigation of etiological agents, there is no evidence of outbreak of brucellosis in elk,pigs or goats of Korea since 2008. However, the possibility for brucellosis from cattle to affect these other livestockexists; therefore, extensive and continuous serological monitoring is required to maintain their brucellosis-free status.Keywords : brucellosis, competitive-ELISA, rose-Bengal test, serological test, standard tube agglutination test