De Sabato Luca, Domanico Mariagiovanna, De Santis Paola, Cecca Daniele, Bonella Giulia, Mastrandrea Giovanni, Onorati Roberta, Sorbara Luigi, Varcasia Bianca Maria, Franzetti Barbara, Caprioli Andrea, Battisti Antonio, Ostanello Fabio, Di Bartolo Ilaria
Department of Food Safety, Nutrition and Veterinary Public Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy.
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Lazio e della Toscana "M. Aleandri", Rome, Italy.
Front Vet Sci. 2024 Nov 27;11:1511823. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1511823. eCollection 2024.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is recognized as an emerging zoonosis. Pigs and wild boars are considered the main reservoirs of zoonotic HEV-3 and HEV-4 genotypes. In Europe, autochthonous human cases of hepatitis E, mainly associated with HEV-3 and consumption of raw or undercooked pig and wild boar liver/meat, have increased over the last decades. From 2016 to 2024, during several hunting seasons, we conducted a molecular and serological longitudinal survey on the circulation of HEV in Maremman wild boar (Italian subspecies/ecotype, ) and fallow deer () populations in a protected area in Central Italy. During the study period, 346 livers (256 from wild boar, 90 from fallow deer), 161 serum (127 from wild boar, 34 from fallow deer), and 23 meat juice (11 from wild boar, 12 from fallow deer) samples were collected. Serum and meat juice samples were tested using a commercial ELISA test for the detection of total anti-HEV antibodies. An estimated serological prevalence of 28.3% (39/138) in wild boar and 21.7% (10/46) in fallow deer was found. The 346 liver samples were tested using a HEV Real-Time RT-PCR for the detection of HEV-RNA. Thirty-one wild boar (12%) and four fallow deer (4.4%) livers were found positive. Phylogenetic analysis of 11 partial ORF2 sequences from wild boar confirmed the HEV3 heterogeneity in this species, revealing different strains (3f, 3c) circulating over the years. The detected subtypes are among the most commonly detected in Italy and our strains showed a high correlation with human and wild boar Italian strains. Although the studied area is a fenced natural reserve, the presence of different strains over time suggests the probable virus introduction from the external. Our results confirm fallow deer susceptibility to the infection, and that wild boar could be considered the main wild HEV reservoir. This is also the first study demonstrating the infection in the so-called Italian subspecies/ecotype Maremman wild boar. Moreover, our results corroborate that the consumption of undercooked or raw liver from both wild boar and fallow deer, or the direct contact with these animals, could represent a zoonotic risk.
戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）被认为是一种新出现的人畜共患病原体。猪和野猪被视为戊型肝炎病毒3型和4型人畜共患病的主要宿主。在欧洲，过去几十年来，戊型肝炎的本土人类病例有所增加，主要与戊型肝炎病毒3型以及食用生的或未煮熟的猪和野猪肝脏/肉有关。从2016年到2024年的几个狩猎季节，我们对意大利中部一个保护区内的马尔梅马野猪（意大利亚种/生态型）和黇鹿种群中戊型肝炎病毒的传播情况进行了分子和血清学纵向调查。在研究期间，共采集了346份肝脏样本（256份来自野猪，90份来自黇鹿）、161份血清样本（127份来自野猪，34份来自黇鹿）和23份肉汁样本（11份来自野猪，12份来自黇鹿）。血清和肉汁样本使用商业ELISA检测试剂盒检测抗戊型肝炎病毒总抗体。结果发现，野猪的血清学患病率估计为28.3%（39/138），黇鹿为21.7%（10/46）。对346份肝脏样本使用戊型肝炎病毒实时逆转录聚合酶链反应检测戊型肝炎病毒RNA。发现31头野猪（12%）和4头黇鹿（4.4%）的肝脏呈阳性。对来自野猪的11个部分开放阅读框2序列进行系统发育分析，证实了该物种中戊型肝炎病毒3型的异质性，揭示了多年来传播的不同毒株（3f、3c）。检测到的亚型是意大利最常见的亚型之一，我们的毒株与意大利的人类和野猪毒株高度相关。尽管研究区域是一个有围栏的自然保护区，但随着时间的推移出现不同毒株表明可能有病毒从外部传入。我们的结果证实了黇鹿对感染易感，并且野猪可被视为野生戊型肝炎病毒的主要宿主。这也是第一项证明所谓的意大利亚种/生态型马尔梅马野猪感染的研究。此外，我们的结果证实，食用未煮熟或生的野猪和黇鹿肝脏，或直接接触这些动物，可能存在人畜共患病风险。
