Background: The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute hepatitis in developing countries and an emerging pathogen in Europe. In industrial countries viral genotypes 3 and 4 are found in swine, wild boar, deer and rabbits, and they are often associated with autochthonous cases suggesting the existence of zoonotic HEV infections. A putative involvement of undercooked pork and possible contact with infected animals represent routes of transmission to human beings. A monitoring plan was performed to evaluate the prevalence of HEV infection in humans and pigs of North-East of Italy to better investigate whether consumption of pork products and/or contact with pigs may represent a risk factor. Methods: During 2012-2014 period, serum samples were collected from 405 volunteers divided into two groups of people: a) workers in contact with swine (185); b) general population with different diets, omnivorous (108) and vegetarian (112). All sera samples were tested by ELISA to detect anti-HEV IgG/IgM antibodies. During the same time, 175 pig farms were sampled to detect at least one positive sample assuming a within-herd seroprevalence of 30%, 9 sera were collected and analyzed from each farm. Seropositive farms were surveyed for the presence of the virus by real time RT-PCR and eventually characterized by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Results: HEV seroprevalence in humans was significantly different among 2 groups (p<0.001): farmers showing the greatest prevalence (15.75%,95% CI:9.9-23.3) and general population the lowest (2.3%,95% CI:0.5-6.5). No significant differences were found between omnivorous and vegetarian subjects. Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 64.8% (114/175,95% CI:58.2-72.7) of the pig farms, while viral RNA was identified in 24.8% (26/105) of the sampled farms. Phylogenetic analysis on the nucleotide sequences identifies distinct subtypes of the genotype 3 and one, belonging to genotype 4, with 100% sequence similarity to a human Italian strain. Conclusion: The survey confirmed a widespread of HEV in Italian pig herds; for the first time HEV4 was identified in the Italian swine population. Moreover, this data corroborate an increased risk of HEV transmission to farmers due to their professional exposure.

Hepatitis E virus: Monitoring for the evaluation of the prevalence of infection in Italian piggery and in the human population

INGLESE, NADIA;SALATA, CRISTIANO;FRANCHIN, ELISA;PALU', GIORGIO;
2014

Abstract

Background: The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading cause of acute hepatitis in developing countries and an emerging pathogen in Europe. In industrial countries viral genotypes 3 and 4 are found in swine, wild boar, deer and rabbits, and they are often associated with autochthonous cases suggesting the existence of zoonotic HEV infections. A putative involvement of undercooked pork and possible contact with infected animals represent routes of transmission to human beings. A monitoring plan was performed to evaluate the prevalence of HEV infection in humans and pigs of North-East of Italy to better investigate whether consumption of pork products and/or contact with pigs may represent a risk factor. Methods: During 2012-2014 period, serum samples were collected from 405 volunteers divided into two groups of people: a) workers in contact with swine (185); b) general population with different diets, omnivorous (108) and vegetarian (112). All sera samples were tested by ELISA to detect anti-HEV IgG/IgM antibodies. During the same time, 175 pig farms were sampled to detect at least one positive sample assuming a within-herd seroprevalence of 30%, 9 sera were collected and analyzed from each farm. Seropositive farms were surveyed for the presence of the virus by real time RT-PCR and eventually characterized by sequencing and phylogenetic analysis. Results: HEV seroprevalence in humans was significantly different among 2 groups (p<0.001): farmers showing the greatest prevalence (15.75%,95% CI:9.9-23.3) and general population the lowest (2.3%,95% CI:0.5-6.5). No significant differences were found between omnivorous and vegetarian subjects. Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 64.8% (114/175,95% CI:58.2-72.7) of the pig farms, while viral RNA was identified in 24.8% (26/105) of the sampled farms. Phylogenetic analysis on the nucleotide sequences identifies distinct subtypes of the genotype 3 and one, belonging to genotype 4, with 100% sequence similarity to a human Italian strain. Conclusion: The survey confirmed a widespread of HEV in Italian pig herds; for the first time HEV4 was identified in the Italian swine population. Moreover, this data corroborate an increased risk of HEV transmission to farmers due to their professional exposure.
2014
Abstract Book
12TH ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE ITALIAN SOCIETY FOR VIROLOGY
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11577/2936100
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