Seoul is stepping up surveillance of disease-carrying ticks in parks and along walking trails as autumn approaches, following Korea's first Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (SFTS) death of the year, reported on Jeju Island on Aug. 5. From April through October, the Seoul Research Institute of Public Health and Environment is conducting intensive monitoring across high-risk green spaces. Field researchers are targeting Han River parks, ecological reserves, popular hiking paths, barefoot walking zones and dog parks where dense vegetation and human activity intersect. The institute has collected approximately 480 ticks through August, with laboratory tests confirming zero cases of the SFTS virus among the gathered specimens so far. First identified in East Asia, SFTS is a viral infection transmitted through the bite of an infected hard tick, primarily the Asian bush tick (Haemaphysalis longicornis). The illness carries a high fatality rate — often between 12 and 30 percent — due to the absence of targeted antiviral treatments or preventive vaccines. Symptoms typically includ