Abstract
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging infectious disease in China. Polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to detect SFTS virus (SFTSV) and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in previous clinically diagnosed human anaplasmosis patients and SFTS patients. A serosurvey for SFTSV infection was also conducted on healthy persons and animals in Yiyuan County in Shandong Province of China. Among 21 patients SFTSV was detected in 17 (81%) however A. phagocytophilum was not detected in any of the patients. The seroprevalence rate of IgG antibody to SFTSV antigens was 1.3% (1 of 78) in healthy persons, 95% (19 of 20) in goats, 50% (1 of 2) in dogs, 0% in cattle (0 of 21), and rats (Rattus norvegicus) (0 of 35). The conclusion of this study was that co-infection of SFTSV and A. phagocytophilum are rare in SFTS patients and goats might play an important role in transmission of SFTSV.