High prevalence of anti-hepatitis delta virus antibody in chronic liver disease in Somalia.

We have assessed the prevalence of hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infection in people with histologically proven chronic liver disease living in Somalia. Among 104 patients studied (14 with chronic persistent hepatitis, 74 with chronic active hepatitis, and 16 with active cirrhosis), 52 were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen; of these, 26 (50%) carried anti-delta antibodies. HDV infection was detected more frequently in sera from hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative patients (60.9%) than in HBeAg positive patients (9.1%). Using the dot-blot hybridization technique, serum hepatitis B virus deoxyribonucleic acid was revealed in 73.1% of patients without HDV infection, while it was detected in only 7.7% of anti-delta positive patients. It is concluded that HDV is strongly associated with chronic liver disease in Somalia.