TY - JOUR
T1 - Detection of Hepatitis E virus in samples of animal origin collected in Hungary
AU - Forgách, Petra
AU - Nowotny, Norbert
AU - Erdélyi, Károly
AU - Boncz, Attila
AU - Zentai, János
AU - Szucs, György
AU - Reuter, Gábor
AU - Bakonyi, Tamás
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by “Providing tools to prevent emergence of enteric viruses Enteric Viruses Emergence, New Tools” EVENT, EU Framework 6. SP22-CT-2004-50571, and by the Postgraduate School of Veterinary Science, Szent István University, Budapest, Hungary. T. Bakonyi is a grantee of the “Bolyai János” fellowship grant of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The support of Helga Lussy (Zoonoses and Emerging Infections Group, Clinical Virology, Department of Pathobiology, University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna, Austria) in sequence determinations is highly acknowledged. The authors thank Annika Haagsman DVM, Dezső Szügyi DVM and Gergő Kiss DVM for their help in the processing of the samples.
PY - 2010/7
Y1 - 2010/7
N2 - Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an enterically transmitted human pathogen. HEV infections are mainly associated with acute, self-limited, icteric hepatitis with an average mortality rate of 1%. Animal reservoirs are considered to play an important role in the maintenance of the virus and in the spread of HEV to humans. HEV-induced seroconversion was described in several species, however clinical hepatitis in animals has not been observed to date. HEV strains from animals are genetically closely related to human HEV isolates, which supports the opinions on the zoonotic transmission of the virus.In this expansive study the occurrence of HEV was investigated in Hungarian wild and domesticated animal samples. HEV RNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in liver samples of wild boars, roe deer, and deer. The investigations of domestic swine samples detected HEV in 39% of the investigated Hungarian pig farms. Simultaneous investigation revealed no definite difference between liver and faeces samples of domestic pigs in the frequency of HEV positivity. The highest (36%) incidence of HEV infection was found among the 11-16-week-old pigs. Samples from domestic cattle and rodents collected in pig farms, forests and meadows were tested negative for HEV RNA.Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences amplified within the ORF1 and ORF2 regions of selected strains revealed that the detected viruses belong to three subgroups of the third genogroup of HEV, and are closely related to human and swine HEV strains detected in different countries. The investigations revealed widespread distribution of HEV in Hungarian wild ungulate and domesticated swine populations, with considerable genetic diversity among the strains.
AB - Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an enterically transmitted human pathogen. HEV infections are mainly associated with acute, self-limited, icteric hepatitis with an average mortality rate of 1%. Animal reservoirs are considered to play an important role in the maintenance of the virus and in the spread of HEV to humans. HEV-induced seroconversion was described in several species, however clinical hepatitis in animals has not been observed to date. HEV strains from animals are genetically closely related to human HEV isolates, which supports the opinions on the zoonotic transmission of the virus.In this expansive study the occurrence of HEV was investigated in Hungarian wild and domesticated animal samples. HEV RNA was detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in liver samples of wild boars, roe deer, and deer. The investigations of domestic swine samples detected HEV in 39% of the investigated Hungarian pig farms. Simultaneous investigation revealed no definite difference between liver and faeces samples of domestic pigs in the frequency of HEV positivity. The highest (36%) incidence of HEV infection was found among the 11-16-week-old pigs. Samples from domestic cattle and rodents collected in pig farms, forests and meadows were tested negative for HEV RNA.Phylogenetic analysis of partial sequences amplified within the ORF1 and ORF2 regions of selected strains revealed that the detected viruses belong to three subgroups of the third genogroup of HEV, and are closely related to human and swine HEV strains detected in different countries. The investigations revealed widespread distribution of HEV in Hungarian wild ungulate and domesticated swine populations, with considerable genetic diversity among the strains.
KW - Hepatitis E virus (HEV)
KW - Phylogenetic analysis
KW - RT-PCR
KW - Viral hepatitis
KW - Zoonoses
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=77953120437&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.11.004
DO - 10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.11.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 20005644
AN - SCOPUS:77953120437
SN - 0378-1135
VL - 143
SP - 106
EP - 116
JO - Veterinary Microbiology
JF - Veterinary Microbiology
IS - 2-4
ER -
