scholarly journals Geographical restriction of Hepatitis E virus circulation in wild boars (Sus scrofa) in Emilia-Romagna region, Northern Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Bonardi ◽  
Virginia Filipello ◽  
Enrico Pavoni ◽  
Valentina Carta ◽  
Luca Bolzoni ◽  
...  

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a singlestrand RNA virus that causes an acute viral hepatitis in humans. Among its eight recognized genotypes, HEV-3 and HEV-4 are zoonotic, infecting humans, pigs and wild boars. Recently, HEV-3 has been also detected in red deer, which represents another reservoir of HEV. Consumption of raw pork products (mainly liver sausages), undercooked wild boar meat, raw wild boar liver and deer meat has been responsible for foodborne HEV human worldwide. From November 2018 to March 2019, liver samples collected from 97 wild boars hunted in Emilia-Romagna region (Northern Italy) were tested for HEV RNA. The hunting area included two territories for an extension of 33 km2, named A (about 13 km2, natural park, deciduous wood) and B (about 20 km2, cultivated fields in proximity of a river) areas. Distance between the two areas ranged between 8 to 10 km. A total of 73 wild boars were hunted in area A, and 24 in area B. HEV RNA was detected by Realtime RT–PCR in 23/73 liver samples of wild boars living in area A only (31.5% - 95% CI: 22.0-42.8%). The HEV sequences (n=13) clustered within genotype 3. The majority of positives belonged to animals < 12 months (12/25; 48%), followed by subadults (13-24 months) (7/16; 43.8%) and adults (4/32; 12.5%). This difference was found to be statistically significant (p=0.0024). In absence of pig farms, the restriction of HEV-positive animals to a well-defined territory of 13 km2 (Boschi di Carrega Regional Park) could hypothetically be related to the presence of red deer (Cervus elaphus), which lived in area A at the beginning of the hunting season. Further studies are needed to confirm or deny our hypothesis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 2302
Author(s):  
Katja Schilling-Loeffler ◽  
Oliver Viera-Segura ◽  
Victor Max Corman ◽  
Julia Schneider ◽  
Ashish K. Gadicherla ◽  
...  

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.


Author(s):  
Adriana ANITA ◽  
Daniela POREA ◽  
Andreea COZMA ◽  
Dragos ANITA ◽  
Gheorghe SAVUTA

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) has significantly impacted humans due to its potential to cause acute viral hepatitis. Discovery of hepatitis E virus in domestic pigs and wild boars worldwide and the realization that it is highly prevalent, raised concerns of the implications for food-borne transmission of HEV in Europe. Present work focusses on molecular detection of hepatitis E virus in wild boar liver samples, underlining the possible role of wildlife as a source of HEV transmission to humans. During hunting season 2016-2017, liver samples were collected from 37 wild boars in Iași and Suceava County. All tissues samples were submitted for RNA isolation followed by nested RT-PCR. Genetic characterization of wild boar HEV targeted the structural gene in the ORF2 region of hepatitis E virus genome. After specific amplification by nested RT-PCR of a 348 nt fragment from HEV ORF2, five liver samples positive for hepatitis E virus genotype 3 RNA were identified. In the present study HEV detection in Romanian fresh liver from wild boars highlights the importance of swine as a possible source of foodborne transmission. Moreover, our results along with the reviewed literature data emphasize the necessity of efficient food safety control measures implementation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 640-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anuwat Wiratsudakul ◽  
Ladawan Sariya ◽  
Phirom Prompiram ◽  
Siriporn Tantawet ◽  
Duangkhamol Suraruangchai ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tiziana Trogu ◽  
Nicola Ferrari ◽  
Nicoletta Formenti ◽  
Virginia Filipello ◽  
Luca Pedrotti ◽  
...  

Viruses ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 1113
Author(s):  
Iwona Kozyra ◽  
Artur Jabłoński ◽  
Ewelina Bigoraj ◽  
Artur Rzeżutka

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.


2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ugne Spancerniene ◽  
Juozas Grigas ◽  
Jurate Buitkuviene ◽  
Judita Zymantiene ◽  
Vida Juozaitiene ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1589-1597 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Thiry ◽  
N. Rose ◽  
A. Mauroy ◽  
F. Paboeuf ◽  
L. Dams ◽  
...  

2015 ◽  
Vol 180 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 15-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josephine Schlosser ◽  
Ariel Vina-Rodriguez ◽  
Christine Fast ◽  
Martin H. Groschup ◽  
Martin Eiden

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