臺灣馬匹日本腦炎流行病學調查

Abstract

日本腦炎是人畜共通傳染病，於公共衛生安全上為一重要議題。為了瞭解臺灣馬匹日本腦炎之流行病學現況以供日後之預防與監控，自2010年5月至10月起，於臺灣23處馬場採取217個馬匹血液樣本進行馬匹血清抗體以及血液病毒抗原檢驗。本次接受調查之馬場分為北部 (台北、桃園)、中部 (新竹、苗栗、台中)、南部 (高雄、屏東) 以及東部 (花蓮、台東) 四個區域。採取之血液分別以反轉錄聚合酶鏈反應檢測日本腦炎病毒特定核酸序列以及酵素結合免疫吸附法分析日本腦炎IgG及IgM抗體。反轉錄聚合酶鏈反應及IgM抗體調查結果皆為陰性，但IgG抗體檢驗結果陽性率為94%(204/217)。動物血清IgG抗體之陽性率和性別、年齡、品種、馬匹生活之地理位置、馬場環境管理以及疫苗施打與否無明顯相關，但和馬場環境周圍有稻田以及有機會與豬隻或與禽鳥接觸有顯著相關。

The Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a zoonotic and important disease in Taiwan. For studying the epidemiology of JE and a further prevention and control of this disease, a blood survey was conducted to investigate the prevalence rate of antibodies to JE and the virus antigens in horses in Taiwan from May to Oct, 2010. A total of 217 blood samples of horses were collected from 23 horse fields. The target population for the survey was divided into four geographical regions, namely, the northern region (Taipei, Taoyuan), the central region (Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung), the southern region (Kaohsiung, Pingtung), and the eastern region (Hualien, Taitung). The blood were tested with reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to investigate the specific antigen site of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) and the serum was evaluated with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the detection of immunoglobulin M (IgM) and immunoglobulin (IgG) antibodies against JEV respectively. The results of RT-PCR and IgM ELISA test were all negative, but the positive rate of IgG antibodies to JE was 94% (204/217). The prevalence rate of IgG antibodies was not sex-, age-, breed-, region-, management-, and vaccine-dependent but closely related to rice fields, pigs or birds nearby.