High Hepatitis E Virus Seroprevalence in Forestry Workers and in Wild Boars in France

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is widespread among domestic pigs, industrial swine, and wild boars in Bulgaria. The aim of the current research was to present the HEV seroprevalence among blood donors in Bulgaria. In the present study, 555 blood donors (479 males and 76 females) were enrolled from five districts in the country (Shumen, Pleven, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv, and Sofia districts). All blood samples were tested for anti-HEV IgG using the recomWell HEV IgG ELISA test (Mikrogen GmbH, Neuried, Germany). Each participating donor completed a short, structured, and specific questionnaire to document data on the current study. Anti-HEV IgG positive results were detected in 144 (25.9%) blood donors, including 129 (26.9%) males and 15 (19.7%) females. The established HEV seropositivity was 28.8% (23/80) in Shumen district, 23.2% (22/95) in Pleven district, 27.1% (38/140) in Stara Zagora district, 27.5% (44/160) in Plovdiv district, and 21.3% (17/80) in Sofia district. A high HEV seroprevalence was found for persons who declared that they were general hunters (48.7%; 19/39; p = 0.001) and hunters of wild boars (51.6%; 16/31; p = 0.001). We present the first seroprevalence rates of HEV infection in blood donors from Bulgaria. The results of our research showed high HEV seropositivity among blood donors.

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Cell Culture Isolation and Whole Genome Characterization of Hepatitis E Virus Strains from Wild Boars in Germany

Microorganisms ◽

10.3390/microorganisms9112302 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (11) ◽

pp. 2302

Author(s):

Katja Schilling-Loeffler ◽

Oliver Viera-Segura ◽

Victor Max Corman ◽

Julia Schneider ◽

Ashish K. Gadicherla ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Culture ◽

Wild Boar ◽

Hepatitis E Virus ◽

Hepatitis E ◽

Enriched Library ◽

Genome Copy ◽

Genotype 3 ◽

Wild Boars ◽

Copy Numbers ◽

Cell Culture Isolation

Infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV) can cause acute and chronic hepatitis in humans. The HEV genotype 3 can be zoonotically transmitted from animals to humans, with wild boars representing an important reservoir species. Cell culture isolation of HEV is generally difficult and mainly described for human isolates so far. Here, five sera and five liver samples from HEV-RNA-positive wild boar samples were inoculated onto PLC/PRF/5 cells, incubated for 3 months and thereafter passaged for additional 6 weeks. As demonstrated by RT-qPCR, immunofluorescence and immune electron microscopy, virus was successfully isolated from two liver samples, which originally contained high HEV genome copy numbers. Both isolates showed slower growth than the culture-adapted HEV strain 47832c. In contrast to this strain, the isolated strains had no insertions in their hypervariable genome region. Next generation sequencing using an HEV sequence-enriched library enabled full genome sequencing. Strain Wb108/17 belongs to subtype 3f and strain Wb257/17 to a tentative novel subtype recently described in Italian wild boars. The results indicate that HEV can be successfully isolated in cell culture from wild boar samples containing high HEV genome copy numbers. The isolates may be used further to study the zoonotic potential of wild boar-derived HEV subtypes.

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Seroprevalence of Hepatitis E Virus Infection Among Wild Boars in Western Bulgaria

Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases ◽

10.1089/vbz.2020.2756 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ilia Tsachev ◽

Magdalena Baymakova ◽

Plamen Marutsov ◽

Krasimira Gospodinova ◽

Todor Kundurzhiev ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Virus Infection ◽

Hepatitis E Virus ◽

Hepatitis E ◽

Wild Boars

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Wild Boar as a Sylvatic Reservoir of Hepatitis E Virus in Poland: A Cross-Sectional Population Study

Viruses ◽

10.3390/v12101113 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (10) ◽

pp. 1113

Author(s):

Iwona Kozyra ◽

Artur Jabłoński ◽

Ewelina Bigoraj ◽

Artur Rzeżutka

Keyword(s):

Wild Boar ◽

Regional Differences ◽

Hepatitis E Virus ◽

Hepatitis E ◽

Igg Antibodies ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Wild Boars ◽

Wildlife Species ◽

Faecal Samples ◽

Molecular Assessment

The most important wildlife species in the epidemiology of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections are wild boars, which are also the main reservoir of the virus in a sylvatic environment. The aim of the study was a serological and molecular assessment of the prevalence of HEV infections in wild boars in Poland. In total, 470 pairs of samples (wild boar blood and livers) and 433 samples of faeces were tested. An ELISA (ID.vet, France) was used for serological analysis. For the detection of HEV RNA, real-time (RT)-qPCR was employed. The presence of specific anti-HEV IgG antibodies was found in 232 (49.4%; 95%CI: 44.7–54%) sera, with regional differences observed in the seroprevalence of infections. HEV RNA was detected in 57 (12.1%, 95%CI: 9.3–15.4%) livers and in 27 (6.2%, 95%CI: 4.1–8.9%) faecal samples, with the viral load ranging from 1.4 to 1.7 × 1011 G.C./g and 38 to 9.3 × 107 G.C./mL, respectively. A correlation between serological and molecular results of testing of wild boars infected with HEV was shown. HEV infections in wild boars appeared to be common in Poland.

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