Mesquita João R, Santos-Ferreira Nanci, Ferreira Ana S, Albuquerque Carlos, Nóbrega Cármen, Esteves Fernando, Cruz Rita, Vala Helena, Nascimento Maria S J
Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Epidemiology Research Unit, Instituto de Saúde Pública, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Transbound Emerg Dis. 2020 Sep;67(5):1918-1921. doi: 10.1111/tbed.13524. Epub 2020 Mar 4.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an enteric RNA virus from the family Hepeviridae with five genotypes (genotypes 1-4 and 7) known to infect humans. HEV infection is known to have a zoonotic swine origin in industrialized countries. The role of pigs and wild boars as major reservoirs for human infection is today well-established; however, the list of new animal reservoirs is ever-expanding as new HEV strains are continuously being found in a broad host range. The recent detection of HEV in sheep stools brings concerns on the possibility of HEV transmission from these animals to humans, particularly in those occupationally exposed. The present work investigated the potential occupational risk of HEV infection in shepherds and sheep milk cheesemakers-workers occupationally exposed to ovine (WOEOs; N = 96)-from a region of the Centre of Portugal ('Serra da Estrela') based on the differences of anti-HEV IgG seroprevalence rates between these professionals and the general population (N = 192). The presence of HEV-specific antibodies in sheep (N = 90) from the same region was also evaluated. The HEV seroprevalence in WOEOs (29.3%) was found to be significantly higher (p = .0198) when compared with population controls (16.1%) which suggests an increased risk for HEV infection in these workers. HEV-specific antibodies were also found in 16.6% of the studied sheep showing that HEV circulates in these animals. Further studies are needed to confirm the zoonotic potential of sheep HEV.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）是一种来自戊型肝炎病毒科的肠道RNA病毒，已知有五种基因型（基因型1 - 4和7）可感染人类。在工业化国家，戊型肝炎病毒感染已知源于猪的人畜共患病。如今，猪和野猪作为人类感染主要宿主的作用已得到充分证实；然而，随着新的戊型肝炎病毒株在广泛的宿主范围内不断被发现，新的动物宿主名单也在不断扩大。最近在羊粪便中检测到戊型肝炎病毒引发了人们对该病毒从这些动物传播给人类可能性的担忧，尤其是在那些职业暴露人群中。本研究基于葡萄牙中部一个地区（“埃什特雷拉山脉”）的牧羊人及羊奶奶酪制作工人（职业暴露于羊的工人；N = 96）与普通人群（N = 192）之间抗HEV IgG血清阳性率的差异，调查了戊型肝炎病毒感染的潜在职业风险。同时还评估了同一地区羊（N = 90）中戊型肝炎病毒特异性抗体的存在情况。结果发现，职业暴露于羊的工人中戊型肝炎病毒血清阳性率（29.3%）显著高于（p = 0.0198）人群对照组（16.1%），这表明这些工人感染戊型肝炎病毒的风险增加。在16.6%的被研究羊中也发现了戊型肝炎病毒特异性抗体，这表明戊型肝炎病毒在这些动物中传播。需要进一步研究来证实羊戊型肝炎病毒的人畜共患病潜力。
