Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety of Hebei Province, Department of Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, Hebei University, Baoding, China.
Division of HIV/AIDS and Sex-Transmitted Virus Vaccines, National Institutes for Food and Drug Control, Beijing, China.
Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis. 2023 Nov;23(11):588-594. doi: 10.1089/vbz.2023.0010. Epub 2023 Sep 12.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic pathogen. HEV has been found to be widely prevalent in rabbits. Its isolates are classified into HEV-3, rabbit subgenotype (HEV-3ra). The routes of human infection with HEV-3ra remain unclear; however, foodborne transmission is possible when asymptomatically infected animals enter the food chain. The prevalence of HEV infection in slaughtered rabbits and the presence of HEV in rabbit meat were evaluated in this study. In three slaughterhouses in Hebei province, China, samples of rabbit blood were collected during the slaughter process, and muscle, liver, and cavity juice were collected from the rabbit carcasses. Anti-HEV antibody in serum samples was detected using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. HEV RNA was tested in all samples by reverse transcription nested PCR (RT-nested PCR). The final amplicons of RT-nested PCR were sequenced and phylogenetically analyzed. Of the 459 serum samples, 50 [10.9%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 8.1-13.7] were positive for anti-HEV antibody, and 17 (3.7%, 95% CI: 2.0-5.4) were positive for HEV RNA. HEV RNA was detected in 7 of 60 liver samples (11.7%, 95% CI: 3.3-20) and 2 cavity juice samples from semi-eviscerated carcasses, but was not detected in any muscle sample from either the eviscerated or semi-eviscerated carcasses. All the detected HEV strains belonged to HEV-3ra and related most closely with the rabbit HEV sequence previously reported in China. A portion of rabbits were in the viremia period of HEV infection at the slaughter age, resulting in the possibility of HEV carriage by rabbit carcass, particularly semi-eviscerated carcass containing liver. These findings suggest a potential risk of HEV transmission from raw rabbit products entering the food chain, whereas the presence of HEV appeared to be lower in the eviscerated carcass than in the semi-eviscerated carcass.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）是一种人畜共患病病原体。HEV 在兔子中广泛流行。其分离株分为 HEV-3、兔亚群（HEV-3ra）。人类感染 HEV-3ra 的途径尚不清楚；然而，当无症状感染的动物进入食物链时，可能会发生食源性传播。本研究评估了屠宰兔中 HEV 感染的流行情况和兔肉中 HEV 的存在情况。在中国河北省的三个屠宰场，在屠宰过程中采集兔血样本，从兔尸中采集肌肉、肝脏和腔液样本。采用酶联免疫吸附试验检测血清样本中的抗-HEV 抗体。所有样本均通过逆转录巢式 PCR（RT-nested PCR）检测 HEV RNA。RT-nested PCR 的最终扩增子进行测序和系统进化分析。在 459 份血清样本中，50 份（10.9%，95%置信区间[CI]：8.1-13.7）抗-HEV 抗体阳性，17 份（3.7%，95% CI：2.0-5.4）HEV RNA 阳性。在 60 份肝脏样本中的 7 份（11.7%，95% CI：3.3-20）和 2 份半剖腔液样本中检测到 HEV RNA，但在任何去脏或半去脏的肌肉样本中均未检测到。所有检测到的 HEV 株均属于 HEV-3ra，与中国先前报道的兔 HEV 序列最为密切相关。一部分兔子在屠宰年龄处于 HEV 感染的病毒血症期，导致兔尸携带 HEV 的可能性，特别是含有肝脏的半剖尸。这些发现表明，从生兔产品进入食物链传播 HEV 的潜在风险，而去脏尸中 HEV 的存在似乎低于半去脏尸。
