ABSTRACT
An African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in wild boars was first reported on October 2, 2019, in South Korea. Since then, additional cases were reported in South Korea's border areas. We here report the identification of ASF virus (ASFV) DNAs from two out of eight environmental abiotic matter samples collected from areas where ASF-positive wild boar carcasses were found. Comparative genomic investigations suggested that the contaminating ASFV DNAs originated from the wild boar whose carcass had been found near the positive sample sites.This is the first report on the identification of ASF viral material in wild boar habitats.
ABSTRACT
An African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in wild boars was first reported on October 2, 2019, in South Korea. Since then, additional cases were reported in South Korea's border areas. We here report the identification of ASF virus (ASFV) DNAs from two out of eight environmental abiotic matter samples collected from areas where ASF-positive wild boar carcasses were found. Comparative genomic investigations suggested that the contaminating ASFV DNAs originated from the wild boar whose carcass had been found near the positive sample sites.This is the first report on the identification of ASF viral material in wild boar habitats.
ABSTRACT
The acid digestion method for extracting diatoms has been widely used to confirm death by drowning, but its reliability is still disputed because some diatoms can be destroyed during the extraction process due to treatment with strong acid and heat. There is a need to develop an efficient and reliable digestive method to overcome the limitation of the present analytical procedure. In this study, the reliability and efficacy of quantitative and qualitative diatom analysis from seawater by an enzymatic digestion method was evaluated. We confirmed the merit of the enzymatic method that used proteinase K instead of nitric acid in the conventional method. As a result, the enzymatic method showed a higher recovery ratio and better preservation of the diatom structure, which is essential for quantitative (diatom density) and qualitative (species) interpretation of diatom analysis. This result indicates that the enzymatic method can replace the conventional acid digestion method to confirm cases of death by drowning since it is more reliable and yields conclusive results.
Subject(s)
Diatoms , Digestion , Drowning , Endopeptidase K , Hot Temperature , Nitric Acid , Plankton , SeawaterABSTRACT
Diatomology has provided important evidences for diagnosis of drowning in forensic practice. However, conflicting opinions about the reliability of diatom test still exist. As a part of efforts to end this controversy, it is very important to secure the diatom profile in the water sample of drowning site. Our results obtained in this study show the characteristics of temporal and spatial distribution of diatom collected from the main drowning sites of Han river in Korea. During spring, 111 taxa (98 species and 13 varieties) were identified from 31 genera, and 87 taxa (77 species and 10 varieties) were identified from 22 genera during summer. At the level of genus Achnanthes, Cyclotella, Cymbella, Fragilaria, Navicula, Nitzschia, and Stephanodiscus represented the highest numbers, and were the most widely occurred during two seasons. The centric diatoms, Stephanodiscus hantzschii f. tenuis and Cyclotella atomus were typical of spring and summer, respectively, and identified as dominant indicator species. The commonly occurred species, including dominant species in the seasonal cluster analysis influenced the formation of site - specific groups. As a result, our results will be able to be used not only as the comparison data of diatom found in the drowning victim's tissue but also a reference data to rule out the possibility of contamination.