Department of Veterinary Diagnostics and Research, National Veterinary Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Bülowsvej 27, DK-1790 Copenhagen V, Denmark.
Vet Microbiol. 2010 Nov 20;146(1-2):144-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2010.05.002. Epub 2010 May 10.
The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in the Danish pig population. Faecal samples from 97 pigs, 1-5 months of age were analysed for HEV RNA by a new PriProET real time RT-PCR assay. In addition, serum samples from 71 sow herds were screened for the presence of anti-HEV IgG antibodies by ELISA. The genotype of the detected HEV positive samples was estimated based on the melting temperature obtained by the PriProET real time RT-PCR assay. The HEV prevalence of faecal samples was 55.0% and 49.5% for herds and animals, respectively. A HEV IgG prevalence of 91.5% was found for the sow herds which correspond to 73.2% of the sows. The PriProET assay indicated that all HEV positive samples belonged to genotype 3 or 4, which is consistent with the observation of genotype 3 as dominant in European pigs. This is the first study showing that HEV is highly prevalent in the Danish pig population. The abundant presence of HEV in Danish pigs and the known high similarity between HEV isolates from pigs and humans support previous reports indicating possible zoonotic transmission of HEV.
本研究旨在调查丹麦猪群中东半球型肝炎病毒（HEV）的流行情况。通过一种新的 PriProET 实时 RT-PCR 检测方法对 97 头 1-5 月龄猪的粪便样本进行了 HEV RNA 分析。此外，通过 ELISA 检测了 71 个母猪群的血清样本中抗-HEV IgG 抗体的存在情况。基于 PriProET 实时 RT-PCR 检测获得的融解温度，对检测到的 HEV 阳性样本的基因型进行了估计。粪便样本的 HEV 流行率分别为 55.0%和 49.5%，针对猪群和动物。母猪群的 HEV IgG 流行率为 91.5%，相当于 73.2%的母猪。PriProET 检测表明，所有 HEV 阳性样本均属于基因型 3 或 4，这与欧洲猪中基因型 3 占主导地位的观察结果一致。这是第一项表明 HEV 在丹麦猪群中高度流行的研究。丹麦猪中 HEV 的大量存在以及猪与人之间 HEV 分离株的高度相似性支持了之前的报告，表明 HEV 可能存在人畜共患传播。
