Lung Worm (Metastrongylus elongatus) Infection in Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) of the Demilitarized Zone, Korea

摘要

The Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) is a strip of land 248 km long and approximately 4 km wide crossing the Korean Peninsula at the 38th parallel; it serves as a buffer zone between South Korea and North Korea. Because human use has been carefully restricted for >50 yr, the DMZ is one of the best-preserved areas of temperate habitat in the world. Because of limited access, there have been very few reports of diseases of wild animals in or near the DMZ. Wild boars (Sus scrofa) frequently descend from the mountains to farm fields for food, increasing the opportunity for contact with domestic animals and humans and becoming a potential risk for spreading livestock and zoonotic diseases in Korea.