Wageningen University and Research Centre, Lelystad, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e22673. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022673. Epub 2011 Aug 1.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotypes 3 and 4 are a cause of human hepatitis and swine are considered the main reservoir. To study the HEV prevalence and characterize circulating HEV strains, fecal samples from swine in the Netherlands and Belgium were tested by RT-PCR. HEV prevalence in swine was 7-15%. The Dutch strains were characterized as genotype 3, subgroups 3a, 3c and 3f, closely related to sequences found in humans and swine earlier. The HEV strains found in Belgium belonged to genotypes 3f and 4b. The HEV genotype 4 strain was the first ever reported in swine in Europe and an experimental infection in pigs was performed to isolate the virus. The genotype 4 strain readily infected piglets and caused fever and virus shedding. Since HEV4 infections have been reported to run a more severe clinical course in humans this observation may have public health implications.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）基因型 3 和 4 可引起人类肝炎，猪被认为是主要的储存宿主。为了研究 HEV 的流行情况并确定循环 HEV 株的特征，对来自荷兰和比利时的猪的粪便样本进行了 RT-PCR 检测。猪的 HEV 流行率为 7-15%。荷兰株被鉴定为基因型 3，亚组 3a、3c 和 3f，与之前在人类和猪中发现的序列密切相关。在比利时发现的 HEV 株属于基因型 3f 和 4b。在欧洲，猪中首次报告了 HEV 基因型 4 株，进行了实验性感染以分离该病毒。基因型 4 株很容易感染仔猪，并引起发热和病毒排出。由于已经报道 HEV4 感染在人类中表现出更严重的临床过程，因此这一观察结果可能具有公共卫生意义。
