Monini Marina, Di Bartolo Ilaria, De Sabato Luca, Ianiro Giovanni, Agostinelli Francesca, Ostanello Fabio
Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena, 299, 00161 Rome, Italy.
Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, University of Bologna, Via Tolara di Sopra, 50, Ozzano dell'Emilia, 40064 Bologna, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2023 Sep 16;13(18):2942. doi: 10.3390/ani13182942.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is considered an emerging threat in Europe, owing to the increased number of human cases and the widespread presence of the virus in pigs at farms. Most cases in industrialized countries are caused by the zoonotic HEV-3 genotype. The main transmission route of HEV-3 in Europe is foodborne, through consumption of raw or undercooked liver pork and wild boar meat. Pigs become susceptible to HEV infection after the loss of maternal immunity, and the majority of adult pigs test positive for IgG anti-HEV antibodies. Nonetheless, HEV-infected pigs in terms of liver, faeces, and rarely blood are identified at slaughterhouses. The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of HEV-positive batches of Italian heavy pigs at slaughterhouses, assessing the presence of animals still shedding HEV upon their arrival at the slaughterhouse by sampling faeces collected from the floor of the trucks used for their transport. The occurrence of viraemic animals and the seroprevalence of anti-HEV antibodies were also assessed. The results obtained indicated the presence of anti-HEV IgM (1.9%), and a high seroprevalence of anti-HEV total antibodies (IgG, IgM, IgA; 89.2%, = 260). HEV RNA was not detected in either plasma or faecal samples. Nevertheless, seropositive animals were identified in all eight batches investigated, confirming the widespread exposure of pigs to HEV at both individual and farm levels. Future studies are needed to assess the factors associated with the risk of HEV presence on farms, with the aim to prevent virus introduction and spread within farms, thereby eliminating the risk at slaughterhouse.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）在欧洲被视为一种新出现的威胁，这是由于人类病例数量增加以及该病毒在农场猪群中广泛存在。工业化国家的大多数病例是由人畜共患的HEV-3基因型引起的。在欧洲，HEV-3的主要传播途径是食源性的，通过食用生的或未煮熟的猪肝、猪肉和野猪肉传播。猪在失去母源免疫力后易感染HEV，大多数成年猪的抗HEV IgG抗体检测呈阳性。尽管如此，在屠宰场仍能识别出肝脏、粪便中感染HEV的猪，血液中感染HEV的情况则较为罕见。本研究旨在调查意大利大型猪在屠宰场中HEV阳性批次的流行情况，通过对运输猪的卡车车厢地板上采集的粪便样本进行检测，评估猪到达屠宰场时仍在排出HEV的情况。同时还评估了病毒血症动物的发生情况和抗HEV抗体的血清阳性率。所获得的结果表明存在抗HEV IgM（1.9%），抗HEV总抗体（IgG、IgM、IgA）的血清阳性率较高（89.2%，n = 260）。在血浆或粪便样本中均未检测到HEV RNA。然而，在所调查的所有八个批次中均发现了血清阳性动物，证实了猪在个体和农场层面均广泛接触HEV。未来需要开展研究，以评估与农场中存在HEV风险相关的因素，目的是防止病毒传入和在农场内传播，从而消除屠宰场的风险。
