Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Taiwan pig farms and the role of rats in transmission
Date Issued
2009
Date
2009
Author(s)
Huang, Chun-Ming
Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the major causative pathogen of enterically transmitted non-A and non-B hepatitis in many developing countries and some industrialized countries. A recent survey indicates that HEV may be a zoonotic disease. The possible sources of infection include various animal species, including swine, bovine, deers, and rodents. To investigate the prevalence, viral shedding, and genotypes of HEV infection in pigs in Taiwan, fecal samples were collected from pigs at various ages from different pig farms and evaluated by RT-nested PCR. In addition, samples of feces, liver and serum collected from rodents trapped in pig farms, countryside, and Taipei city were subjected to RT-nested PCR and anti-HEV antibody detection by ELISA to clarify the possible role of rodents on the transmission of HEV within and among pig farms and to humans. A total of 1395 fecal samples were collected from 11 pig farms located in Yunlin, Chiayi, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung. The overall positive rate was 3.7 % (52/1395) and the positive rate of growing pigs was 6.0 % (42/699) and significantly higher than other stages. The PCR products obtained from 22 HEV-positive fecal samples were successfully sequenced. The sequences of 16 positive samples belonged to HEV genotype 4 and the remaining 6 samples were all from one pig farm and were more closely related to HEV genotype 3. A total of 128, 219, and 221 serum, liver, and fecal samples, respectively, were collected from rodents but none of them were HEV-positive by RT-nested PCR. The serum positive rate for anti-HEV antibody in rodents was 24.2 % (31/128) by ELISA. The results suggest that rodents should not be an important source of HEV infection within and among pig farms and to humans. Thus, it is considered that transmission of HEV by rodents should not cause large scale infection whining pig farms, among humans, and between pigs and human.
Subjects
hepatitis E virus
RT-nested PCR
pigs
rodents
Taiwan
SDGs
Type
thesis
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