Prevalence of antibodies against severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus in shelter dogs in the Republic of Korea

The purpose of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of antibodies against severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) in shelter dogs in the Republic of Korea (ROK) using an indirect immunofluorescence assay and virus neutralization test. Sera were collected from 426 dogs in 12 animal shelters throughout the ROK from March 2016 to November 2016. Overall, 59 of 426 (13.9%) samples were seropositive for antibodies against SFTSV. A significant difference was observed in accordance with the sampling region (p < 0.001), but not according to the sex (p = 0.279) or breed (p = 0.729) of the dogs. The seroprevalence of SFTSV showed an inversely proportional trend to the latitude of the sampling regions: the highest rate was observed in the southern region followed by the Jeju-do region. This is the first report on the nationwide prevalence of antibodies against SFTSV in companion dogs in animal shelters throughout the ROK.