Department of Food Safety, Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), via A. Bianchi 9, 25124, Brescia, Italy.
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna (IZSLER), National Reference Centre for Emerging Risks in Food Safety (CRESA), 20133, Milan, Italy.
Food Environ Virol. 2021 Jun;13(2):146-153. doi: 10.1007/s12560-021-09467-z. Epub 2021 Feb 25.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of hepatitis E, an emerging public health infection which has an increasing incidence across Europe. Because of the apparent lack of species barriers, HEV was characterized as a zoonotic agent. Swine are recognized as the main reservoir, but HEV is also found in wild animals such as ungulates, lagomorphs, and bats. Our work aimed at detecting the HEV presence in wild fauna in two hunting areas of Northern Italy (Parma and Sondrio areas) with different environmental and anthropic characteristics to investigate its possible role as reservoir. Liver samples were collected from wild boars, red deer, roe deer and chamois, and viral identification was carried out by One-Step RT Real-time PCR. Positive samples were genotyped, and phylogenetic analysis was performed. The virus was found only in the wild boar population, with different prevalence and subtypes in the two areas (14% HEV3a and 1.2% close to HEV3f in Parma and Sondrio, respectively). Wild ruminants seem otherwise to pose a marginal risk. Given the high pig farm density in the Parma area, and expansion of the wild boar population, continuous monitoring of the strains circulating in wildlife is crucial.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）是戊型肝炎的病原体，戊型肝炎是一种在欧洲不断增加发病率的新兴公共卫生感染。由于明显缺乏物种障碍，HEV 被认为是一种人畜共患病原体。猪被认为是主要的储存宿主，但 HEV 也存在于野生动物中，如有蹄类动物、兔形目动物和蝙蝠。我们的工作旨在通过检测意大利北部两个狩猎区（帕尔马和松德里奥地区）野生动物中 HEV 的存在情况，研究其作为储存宿主的可能作用。这两个地区具有不同的环境和人为特征。从野猪、马鹿、狍和岩羚羊中采集肝脏样本，通过一步法 RT 实时 PCR 进行病毒鉴定。对阳性样本进行基因分型，并进行系统进化分析。病毒仅在野猪种群中发现，在两个地区的流行率和亚型不同（帕尔马和松德里奥分别为 14%的 HEV3a 和 1.2%接近 HEV3f）。野生反刍动物的风险似乎较小。鉴于帕尔马地区养猪场密度较高，野猪种群不断扩大，对野生动物中传播的菌株进行持续监测至关重要。
