engleski

Detection of Hepatitis E Virus in Domestic Swine and Wild Boars in Croatia

Hepatitis E is one of the most common causes of acute hepatitis in humans with a possibility of zoonotic transmission through contact with infected animals. Therefore, veterinary professionals, animal breeders, especially pig breeders, may be at a higher risk of developing the disease. The causative agent of hepatitis E is a RNA virus (HEV) belonging to the genus Hepevirus, family Hepeviridae. Four HEV genotypes have been recognized so far. Genotypes 1 and 2 are human specific and mostly isolated in areas where HEV is endemic. Genotypes 3 and 4 are isolated from humans and other mammals. In spite of the nucleotide diversity among HEV isolates, only one serotype has been recognised. The aim of our study was to investigate the presence of HEV in known animal reservoirs, the domestic pig and wild boar in Croatia. The method we used was nested PCR for the detection of viral RNA. Our results indicate that both, domestic pigs (in 9 out of 11 districts included in the study) and wild boars (in 3 out of 7 districts included in the study) in Croatia could be potential reservoirs of HEV. Most of the positive domestic pigs found were fattening pigs, whereas in wild boars the virus was mostly detected in animals up to one year of age. We conclude that a thorough epidemiological study, including results of HEV infection in humans is needed to determine the true role of infected animals in the chain of viral spread.

Hepatitis E; Croatia; viral prevalence

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