Abstract：
BACKGROUND: Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-born disease and its animal-to-human transmission has come to attention recently. During our sero-survey of SFTS virus (SFTSV) among veterinary professionals in 2018, a veterinarian and his assistant working in an animal hospital were tested positive by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). An additional survey implied a cluster of SFTS cases in which four more people, a family who brought two sick dogs to the animal hospital in 2003, were involved. This study aimed at assessing the possibility of animal-to-human transmission of SFTSV in this cluster.
METHODS: Retrospective interviews were performed with the owner family of the dogs and their clinical records were obtained from each hospital. SFTSV-IgG were tested by ELISA and virus neutralization test using the sera collected from them in 2018.
RESULTS: The interviews revealed that a total of six people, the two veterinary professionals and the owner family who took care of the sick dogs, suffered from SFTS-like symptoms in the same period of time in 2003. All patients did not have tick bite before the onset and all suspected causative agents were excluded by laboratory tests. The serological tests in this study revealed the four owner family members were all positive for SFTSV antibodies.
CONCLUSIONS: Considering the extremely low seroprevalence of SFTSV antibodies among inhabitants of the region, the existence of SFTSV antibodies in all these six people presents a possibility that they were involved in an SFTS outbreak originated in the sick dogs in 2003.
METHODS: Retrospective interviews were performed with the owner family of the dogs and their clinical records were obtained from each hospital. SFTSV-IgG were tested by ELISA and virus neutralization test using the sera collected from them in 2018.
RESULTS: The interviews revealed that a total of six people, the two veterinary professionals and the owner family who took care of the sick dogs, suffered from SFTS-like symptoms in the same period of time in 2003. All patients did not have tick bite before the onset and all suspected causative agents were excluded by laboratory tests. The serological tests in this study revealed the four owner family members were all positive for SFTSV antibodies.
CONCLUSIONS: Considering the extremely low seroprevalence of SFTSV antibodies among inhabitants of the region, the existence of SFTSV antibodies in all these six people presents a possibility that they were involved in an SFTS outbreak originated in the sick dogs in 2003.
摘要：
背景：严重发热伴血小板减少综合征（SFTS）是一种新兴的蜱病，其动物到人的传播最近受到关注。在2018年我们对兽医专业人员进行的SFTS病毒（SFTSV）血清调查中，一名兽医及其在动物医院工作的助手通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测呈阳性。另一项调查暗示了一系列SFTS病例，其中又有4人，一个家庭在2003年将两只病犬带到动物医院，参与其中。这项研究旨在评估该集群中SFTSV在人与人之间传播的可能性。
方法：对狗的主人家庭进行回顾性访谈，并从每家医院获得其临床记录。使用2018年收集的血清通过ELISA和病毒中和试验检测SFTSV-IgG。
结果：访谈显示，共有6人，两位兽医专业人员和照顾病犬的主人家庭，2003年同期患有SFTS样症状。所有患者在发病前都没有蜱叮咬，实验室检查排除了所有可疑的病原体。这项研究中的血清学测试显示，四个所有者家庭成员对SFTSV抗体均呈阳性。
结论：考虑到该地区居民中SFTSV抗体的血清阳性率极低，所有这6人中都存在SFTSV抗体，这表明他们可能参与了2003年病犬的SFTS爆发。
方法：对狗的主人家庭进行回顾性访谈，并从每家医院获得其临床记录。使用2018年收集的血清通过ELISA和病毒中和试验检测SFTSV-IgG。
结果：访谈显示，共有6人，两位兽医专业人员和照顾病犬的主人家庭，2003年同期患有SFTS样症状。所有患者在发病前都没有蜱叮咬，实验室检查排除了所有可疑的病原体。这项研究中的血清学测试显示，四个所有者家庭成员对SFTSV抗体均呈阳性。
结论：考虑到该地区居民中SFTSV抗体的血清阳性率极低，所有这6人中都存在SFTSV抗体，这表明他们可能参与了2003年病犬的SFTS爆发。
