Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Puglia e della Basilicata, 71121 Foggia, Italy.
Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Bari Aldo Moro, 70010 Bari, Italy.
Viruses. 2023 Sep 28;15(10):2021. doi: 10.3390/v15102021.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an important cause of acute viral hepatitis in humans worldwide. The food-borne transmission of HEV appears to be a major route in Europe through the consumption of pork and wild boar meat. HEV epidemiology in wild boars has been investigated mainly in Northern and Central Italian regions, whilst information from Southern Italy is limited. We investigated the occurrence of HEV in wild boar in the Apulia and Basilicata regions (Southern Italy). Thirteen (10.4%) out of one hundred and twenty-five wild boar samples tested positive for HEV using a quantitative reverse transcription PCR. HEV prevalence was 12% in Apulia and 9.3% in Basilicata. Seven samples were genotyped, and different subtypes (c, f, m) of genotype 3 were identified. The complete genome of a 3m strain was determined, and the virus showed the highest nucleotide identity to a human HEV strain identified in France in 2017. These findings demonstrate the substantial circulation of HEV in the wild boar population in Italian Southern regions. Gathering information on the HEV strains circulating in different geographical areas is useful for tracking the origin of HEV outbreaks and assessing the epidemiological role of wild boar as a potential virus reservoir for domestic pigs.
戊型肝炎病毒 (HEV) 是全球人类急性病毒性肝炎的重要病因。HEV 通过食物传播，似乎是欧洲的主要传播途径，其传播媒介是猪肉和野猪肉。HEV 在野猪中的流行病学主要在意大利北部和中部地区进行了调查，而来自意大利南部的信息有限。我们调查了普利亚大区和巴西利卡塔大区（意大利南部）野猪中 HEV 的发生情况。使用定量逆转录 PCR 检测了 125 个野猪样本，其中 13 个（10.4%）呈 HEV 阳性。普利亚大区的 HEV 流行率为 12%，巴西利卡塔大区为 9.3%。对 7 个样本进行了基因分型，鉴定出了基因型 3 的不同亚型（c、f、m）。确定了一株 3m 株的完整基因组，该病毒与 2017 年在法国鉴定的人类 HEV 株具有最高的核苷酸同一性。这些发现表明，HEV 在意大利南部地区的野猪种群中大量传播。收集不同地理区域中流行的 HEV 株的信息有助于追踪 HEV 暴发的来源，并评估野猪作为家猪潜在病毒库的流行病学作用。
