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O vírus da hepatite A (VHA) agente etiológico da hepatite A pode causar doença leve ou grave, de forma aguda ou até mesmo fulminante. Estudos comprovaram que comunicantes intradomiciliares podem infectar-se pelo contato próximo e direto com os infectados. Objetivo: Identificar a prevalência da infecção pelo VHA e avaliar a situação imunológica em menores de vinte anos de idade, no município de Belém, Pará, Brasil. Métodos: Estudo descritivo, de corte transversal que avaliou amostras de soro e dados epidemiológicos de moradores de Belém, Pará, obtidas a partir de projeto sobre hepatite B realizado anteriormente, cujas amostras foram examinadas por meio dos testes sorológicos anti-VHA total e anti-VHA IgM, por técnica imunoenzimática. Resultados: Entre as 200 amostras examinadas, 51,5% eram de indivíduos do sexo masculino, com média de idade de 9,6 anos (variação de 2 meses a 19 anos) e mediana de 10 anos; 31% dos avaliados tinham algum conhecimento sobre a vacina hepatite A e achavam que duas doses de vacina atrapalhavam a adesão à vacinação. Não identificou-se casos agudos com anti-VHA IgM; 39,5% indivíduos eram anti-VHA total reagente, significando imunidade ao vírus por infecção ou pela vacinação; entre esses 61,2% eram menores de quatro anos de idade; existindo portanto 38,8% suscetíveis, passíveis de vacinação. Conclusão: O estudo mostrou elevada prevalência ao VHA por infecção ou por vacinação, enfatizando a importância de medidas preventivas e de controle, podendo servir como norteador no planejamento de ações estratégicas de vacinação, ampliando a cobertura vacinal e reduzindo o número de infectados., Hepatitis A virus; Vaccine, Prevention

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico?CNPq (141398/2015-9). University of Sao Paulo. School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science. Department of Pathology. Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil / Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Federal Rural University of the Amazon. Institute of Animal Health and Production. Bel?m, PA, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Centro Nacional de Primatas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Centro Nacional de Primatas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Centro Nacional de Primatas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. University Sao Paulo. Faculty of Medicine. Department of Pathology. Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. University of Sao Paulo. School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science. Department of Surgery. Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. University of Sao Paulo. School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science. Department of Pathology. Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil. Background The "starry sky" (SK) liver is ultrasonographic pattern characterized by multiple hyperechogenic foci in hepatic parenchyma. The study aimed to characterize the microscopic hepatic lesions in captive owl monkeys with SK liver. Methods Thirty-seven clinically healthy owl monkeys had their liver scanned and 18 of them had liver biopsy. Animals with SK and peliosis hepatis (PH) were subjected to immunohistochemical and molecular screening for Bartonella spp. Results SK liver occurred in 59.4% (22/37) of the owl monkeys. Biopsied animals showed steatosis, hydropic degeneration, hemosiderosis, PH, and multifocal granulomatous hepatitis. Two monkeys had SK, granulomatous hepatitis, and PH which were negative for Bartonella spp. Conclusions PH and granulomatous hepatitis associated with hepatocellular degenerative lesions may present as hyperechoic nodular liver lesions consisted of SK liver; therefore, concomitant occurrence of two lesions or more contributed to the hepatic SK pattern among owl monkeys and such cases might be clinically monitored.

Federal Rural University of the Amazon. P?s-Graduate Program Animal Healt and Production in the Amazon. Bel?m, PA, Brazil. University Paulista. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Federal Rural University of Amazon. Bel?m, PA, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Programa de P?s-Gradua??o em Virologia. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Federal Rural University of the Amazon. Departament Animal Pathology. Bel?m, PA, Brazil. The hepatitis A virus (HAV, Hepatovirus A) in humans has a relevant impact on public health, especially in geographic regions with poor basic sanitation, such as the Brazilian Amazon. Isolates related to hepatoviruses have been described in non human primates, chiropterans, marsupials, rodents, marmots, shrews, and terrestrial hedgehogs. However, the circulation of these viruses in the Amazonian mammal fauna remains unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of antibodies against this hepatovirus in captive and free-living wild mammals belonging to the orders Didelphimorphia, Primates, Carnivora, and Artiodactyla. Serum samples from 71 animals, from three municipalities in the State of Par? (Bel?m, Santar?m, and Capit?oPo?o) were tested for total anti-HAV and anti-HAV IgM through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Total anti-HAV antibodies were detected in 29.5% (21/71) of non-human primates, 8.4% (6/71) of carnivores, and 5.6% (4/71) of didelphos. All tayassuidos 0% (0/2) were seronegative. Anti-HAV IgM antibodies were not detected in any of the samples tested. The highest total anti-HAV seropositivity in the municipalities studied was in Santar?m with 54.24% (12/22), followed by Capit?o Po?o with 50% (15/30), and then Bel?m with 21.05% (4/19). Among the seropositive animals, animals kept in exposure cages showed 43.9% (18/41), quarantined animals with 60% (9/15), and free-living animals with 26.6% (4/15). The serological results indicated a profile of previous exposure to hepatovirus among these animals. Therefore, additional studies to characterize HAV-related viruses in captive and free living wild animals need to be conducted to better understand the impact of the circulation of this virus on human and animal health.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is the prototype of the Orthohepadnavirus genus and represents an important cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatic cancer in humans worldwide. To verify the occurrence and genetic variability of orthohepadnavirus among neotropical bats, we tested 81 liver samples of New World bats from Sao Paulo State, Southeastern Brazil, collected during 2012. PCR, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis of Surface/Polymerase and Core viral genes confirmed the occurrence of the first isolate of bat orthohepadnavirus detected in South America. These results may contribute to subsequent studies of the origin, variability, host species, and evolution of bat orthohepadnaviruses in South America.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq) Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil / University of S?o Paulo. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science. Department of Pathology. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. University of S?o Paulo. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science. Department of Pathology. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. We describe a case of microscopic liver lesion caused by larval cestode in a frugivorous bat (Molossus molossus) from the Western Brazilian Amazon. Histopathological analysis of liver indicated the occurrence of metacestode associated with multifocal histiocytic response and the phylogenetic analysis of Cox-I and 18S rDNA genes indicated that the parasite belonged to the family Paruterinidae. This is the first identification of cestodes of the family Paruterinidae in bats and may suggest a broad range of paruterinid tapeworm hosts to be investigated in the Brazilian Amazon.

Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Centro de Inova??es Tecnol?gicas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. INTRODU??O: A infec??o oculta pelo v?rus da hepatite B ? VHB (IOB) ? definida como a presen?a do VHB-DNA no f?gado, que pode ou n?o ser detectada no soro com HBsAg?, e suas poss?veis implica??es cl?nicas. OBJETIVO: Investigar a ocorr?ncia de IOB na popula??o do munic?pio de Juruti, estado do Par?, Brasil, entre fevereiro de 2007 e novembro de 2010. MATERIAIS E M?TODOS: Foram avaliadas, por t?cnicas imunoenzim?ticas, amostras de soro de 3.991 indiv?duos, e selecionadas as anti-HBc total+ isolado, nas quais foi investigado o VHB-DNA para identificar a presen?a de IOB. RESULTADOS: O estudo encontrou 0,5% de portadores, 8,3% com perfil de infec??o pregressa, 1,1% com perfil de infec??o pregressa ou atual e 33,6% com resposta vacinal, caracterizando o Munic?pio como de baixa endemicidade para esse v?rus. O VHB-DNA foi detectado em 66,7% das amostras HBsAg+, com carga viral entre < 55 UI/mL e > 38.000 UI/mL; 69,2% dessas amostras apresentaram subgen?tipo A1; 15,4%, F2; e 15,4%, F4. Do total examinado, 1,1% eram amostras de indiv?duos anti-HBc total+ isolado, cujos testes de biologia molecular revelaram que 9,3% apresentavam VHB-DNA, com carga viral entre < 15 UI/ mL e 48 UI/mL. CONCLUS?O: Os achados do estudo indicaram a presen?a de portadores de IOB em 0,1% da popula??o de Juruti. A baixa preval?ncia de IOB encontrada provavelmente est? relacionada ? baixa endemicidade do VHB nessa popula??o. INTRODUCTION: Occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (OBI) is defined as the presence of HBV DNA in liver, which may or not be detected in the serum with HBsAg?, and its possible clinical implications. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the OBI occurrence in the population of the municipality of Juruti, Par? State, Brazil, from February 2007 to November 2010. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Serum samples of 3,991 individuals were evaluated by immunoenzymatic techniques. The ones anti-HBc total+ isolated were selected, and from these the HBV DNA was investigated to identify OBI presence. RESULTS: In relation to HBV, the study showed 0.5% of carriers, 8.3% with a previous infection profile, 1.1% with a previous or current infection profile, and 33.6% with a vaccine response, characterizing that municipality as low endemicity for this virus. HBV DNA was detected in 66.7% of the HBsAg+ samples, with viral load between < 55 IU/mL and > 38,000 IU/mL; 69.2% of these samples were A1 subgenotype, 15.4% F2, and 15.4% F4. Of the total, 1.1% were samples from individuals anti-HBc total+ isolated whose molecular biology tests showed that 9.3% had HBV DNA, with viral load between < 15 IU/mL and 48 IU/mL. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicated the presence of OBI carriers in 0.1% of the Juruti population. The low prevalence of OBI found is probably related to the low endemicity of HBV in this population.

Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. INTRODU??O: Curion?polis e Cana? dos Caraj?s s?o munic?pios localizados a sudeste do estado do Par?, Brasil, estando submetidos a grande fluxo migrat?rio, pela influ?ncia de ?reas de garimpo e pela implanta??o de grandes projetos de minera??o, o que imp?e a necessidade de se conhecer, na regi?o, os padr?es epidemiol?gicos de doen?as end?micas, como as hepatites virais. OBJETIVOS: Definir a frequ?ncia das infec??es pelos v?rus das hepatites A (VHA), B (VHB), C (VHC) e D (VHD) em amostras de soro de indiv?duos procedentes de munic?pios da Microrregi?o de Parauapebas. MATERIAIS E M?TODOS: Realizou-se estudo descritivo quantitativo, entre agosto de 2012 e setembro de 2014, utilizando dados coletados, de forma aleat?ria, de indiv?duos dos munic?pios de Cana? dos Caraj?s e Curion?polis. Foram coletadas amostras de sangue para exames sorol?gicos das hepatites virais A, B, C e D, por t?cnica imunoenzim?tica. RESULTADOS: Em Cana? dos Caraj?s, entre as 825 amostras, houve preval?ncia de 76,4% para anti-VHA; 0,2% eram HBsAg+; foi detectada preval?ncia de 0,1% anti-VHC; sendo que o anti-HD das amostras HBsAg+ foi negativo. Em Curion?polis, entre as 376 amostras de soro, a preval?ncia de anti-VHA foi de 84,8%; 0,5% apresentaram HBsAg+; houve preval?ncia de anti-VHC de 0,5%; e nenhuma amostra foi positiva para anti-HD. CONCLUS?O: Concluiu-se, laboratorialmente, que Curion?polis apresentou endemicidade elevada para o VHA e o VHB, e baixa para o VHC; Cana? dos Caraj?s apresentou endemicidade elevada para o VHA, intermedi?ria para o VHB e baixa para o VHC. O VHD n?o foi encontrado nessas popula??es. INTRODUCTION: Curion?polis and Cana? dos Caraj?s are municipalities located at southeast of Par? State, Brazil, with great migration flow due to the influence of mining areas and the implementation of large mining projects, making necessary to know the epidemiological patterns of endemic diseases in that region, such as viral hepatitis. OBJECTIVES: To define the incidence of hepatitis A (HAV), B (HBV), C (HCV) and D (HDV) virus infections in serum samples of people from municipalities in Parauapebas Microregion. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A quantitative and descriptive study was conducted between August 2012 and September 2014, using data collected randomly from individuals in Cana? dos Caraj?s and Curion?polis. Blood samples were collected for serological tests of viral hepatitis A, B, C and D by immunoenzymatic technique. RESULTS: In Cana? dos Caraj?s, among the 825 samples, there was a prevalence of 76.4% for anti-HAV; 0.2% were HBsAg+; prevalence of 0.1% anti-HCV was detected; and anti-HD of the HBsAg+ samples was negative. In Curion?polis, among the 376 serum samples, anti-HAV prevalence was 84.8%; 0.5% showed HBsAg+; there was anti-HCV prevalence of 0.5%; and no samples were positive for anti-HD. CONCLUSION: It was concluded in laboratory that Curion?polis presented high endemicity for HAV and HBV and low for HCV; Cana? dos Caraj?s presented high HAV endemicity, HBV intermediate endemicity, and low for HCV. HDV was not found in those populations.

OBJECTIVE: To describe aspects of laboratory serological and molecular diagnosis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in patients undergoing treatment at a dialysis clinic in Belem, Para State, Brazil, from 1990 to 1993. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective study for reassessment of serum samples from dialysed patients using serological tests for the detection of HCV (anti-HCV and Ag-Ab HCV) and HCV-RNA by molecular RT-PCR. RESULTS: A total of 115 dialysed patients with serum samples collected during the study period were included. Analysis of these samples showed a 16.5% prevalence of anti-HCV reagent, among which 4.3% showed an indicator of active viral replication (HCV-RNA reagent). Seroconversion rate was detected in 55.2% of patients in the analyzed period. The anti-HCV group, Ag-Ab HCV and HCV-RNA reagent were the most prevalent (41.7%). For non-reactive anti-HCV samples, viral replication with HCV-RNA reagent was 22.7%. Genotypes 1 and 3 were detected. Genotype 1 was prevalent in 73.0% of the samples. CONCLUSION: When laboratory screening for HCV (anti-HCV) was introduced in the dialysis clinic, it was possible to observe: high prevalence of HCV infection among patients under treatment; high rates of seroconversion; equation between serological results using second and third generation ELISA methods; presence of viral replication among nonreactive anti-HCV patients; and higher prevalence of HCV genotype 1. Keywords: Hepatitis C Virus; Serological Tests; Hemodialysis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq) (141398/2015-9). Universidade de S?o Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina Veterin?ria e Zootecnia. Departamento de Patologia. S?o Paulo, SP, Brasil / Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Ananindeua, PA, Brasil. Universidade de S?o Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina Veterin?ria e Zootecnia. Departamento de Patologia. S?o Paulo, SP, Brasil Introduction: We evaluated the anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibody prevalence and HEV-RNA in archived serum samples of non-A?C hepatitis, or suspected cases of HEV infection from the Eastern Brazilian Amazon from 1993 to 2014. Methods: Serum samples (n = 318) were tested using ELISA and immunoblotting, and screened for HEV-RNA by RT-qPCR. Results: Anti-HEV IgM and IgG were detected in 3.4% (11/318) and 5.9% (19/318) of the samples, respectively. All samples were HEV-RNA negative. Conclusions: HEV was detected at a low prevalence. Broader serological and molecular evaluation of HEV infection in the Amazon region should be carried out.

Histopathological evaluation of liver from 33 pigs slaughtered for human consumption in Amazon region, previously tested by serology and molecular techniques for hepatitis E virus infection (HEV), was analysed in three groups: Group 1, negative for both HEV-RNA and anti-HEV IgG (n=10); Group 2, positive for HEV-RNA (n=13); Group 3, positive for anti-HEV IgG (n=10). Group 2 showed a significant difference among the groups for liver lesions such as lobular activity (P=0.007), periportal interface hepatitis (P=0.004), portal inflammation (P=0.028) hepatitis with lobular, portal and periportal interface activity (P=0.001). HEV detection by immunohistochemistry was performed and 3 of 6 samples of group 2 were positive. Pigs naturally infected by HEV genotype 3 present microscopic necroinflammatory liver lesions similar to HEV in humans. Liver histopathology showed be important in the diagnosis of active asymptomatic HEV infection in pigs slaughtered for human consumption because hepatic liver lesions may present distinct profiles according to molecular and serological diagnosis and in this sense, histopathology and immunohistochemistry may be an important complementary diagnostic tool.

Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Em pesquisa sobre a preval?ncia de infec??o pelos v?rus das hepatites na sede do Munic?pio de Juruti, oeste do Estado do Par?, Brasil, realizada entre fevereiro de 2007 e abril de 2008, foi demonstrada a necessidade de ampliar estudos de soropreval?ncia baseados em comunidades. Objetivando atender essa necessidade, o estudo foi ampliado para definir a preval?ncia das infec??es pelos v?rus das hepatites A (VHA), B (VHB), C (VHC), D (VHD) e E (VHE), entre fevereiro de 2007 e novembro de 2010, envolvendo amostras de soro de indiv?duos residentes na sede e nas localidades rurais Caf? Torrado, Jauari, Nova Galil?ia, Vila Muirapinima e Lago Jar?, do Munic?pio de Juruti, com estimativa de popula??o de 52.755 habitantes em 2014. Tais amostras foram submetidas ? an?lise dos marcadores sorol?gicos das hepatites A, B, C, D e E, por t?cnica imunoenzim?tica. Nas amostras positivas para VHB e VHC, foram realizadas pesquisas para detec??o do VHB-DNA e VHC-RNA. Entre as 4.003 amostras examinadas, ocorreu preval?ncia de 86,2 por cento para o anti-VHA total+; de 0,6 por cento para o HBsAg+; 8,3 por cento anti-HBc+/anti-HBs+; 1,7 por cento anti-HBc+ isolado; 33,4 por cento anti-HBs+ isolado e VHB-DNA+ em 62,5 por cento dos HBsAg+; 0,1 por cento anti-VHC+. Entre estes, dois casos foram confirmados como portadores do VHC, por RT-PCR; entre os HBsAg+ n?o foram detectados portadores do VHD. A an?lise de 463 amostras coletadas em tr?s comunidades rurais do Munic?pio mostrou preval?ncia de anti-VHE+ de 1,9 por cento. Foi caracterizada, em base laboratorial, alta preval?ncia de infec??o do VHA e baixa preval?ncia de VHB, VHC, VHD e VHE na popula??o examinada. In a survey on the prevalence of infection with hepatitis in the Municipality of Juruti, West region of Par? State, Brazil, conducted between February 2007 and April 2008, it was demonstrated the necessity to increase the seroprevalence studies based on communities. In order to meet this need, the study was expanded to define the prevalence of infections with virus of hepatitis A (HAV), B (HBV), C (HCV), D (HDV) and E (HEV), from February 2007 to November 2010, involving serum samples from individuals living in the center of the city and rural areas Caf? Torrado, Jauari, Nova Galil?ia, Vila Muirapinima and Lago Jar?, from the Municipality of Juruti, with estimated population of 52,755 inhabitants in 2014. These samples were submitted to analysis of serological markers of hepatitis A, B, C, D and E by enzyme immunoassay. In positive samples for HBV and HCV, researches were conducted for the detection of HBV-DNA and HCV-RNA. Among the 4,003 samples examined, the prevalence of total anti-HAV was 86.2 per cent; 0.6 per cent of HBsAg+; 8.3 per cent anti-HBc+/anti-HBs+; 1.7 per cent anti-HBc+ isolated; 33.4 per cent anti-HBs+ isolated and HBV DNA+ in 62.5 per cent of HBsAg+; 0.1 per cent anti-HCV+. Among these, two cases have been confirmed as HCV by RT-PCR; among HBsAg+ cases there were not detected any carriers of HDV. The analysis of 463 samples collected in three rural communities in the city showed a prevalence of anti-HEV+ 1.9 per cent. It was featured in laboratory-based, high prevalence of HAV infection and low prevalence of HBV, HCV, HDV and HEV in the examined population.

To date, nothing is known about the genetic diversity of the Echinococcus neotropical species, Echinococcus vogeli and Echinococcus oligarthrus. Here we used mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence polymorphisms to uncover the genetic structure, transmission and history of E. vogeli in the Brazilian Amazon, based on a sample of 38 isolates obtained from human and wild animal hosts. We confirm that the parasite is partially synanthropic and show that its populations are diverse. Furthermore, significant geographical structuring is found, with western and eastern populations being genetically divergent.

Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil / Faculdades Integradas do Tapaj?s. Centro de Ci?ncias Biol?gicas e da Sa?de. Santar?m, PA, Brazil. University of S?o Paulo. School of Medicine. Institute of Tropical Medicine and Department of Gastroenterology. Laboratory of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. University of S?o Paulo. School of Medicine. Institute of Tropical Medicine and Department of Gastroenterology. Laboratory of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro. Instituto de Veterin?ria. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. Universidade Federal Rural da Amaz?nia. Instituto da Sa?de e Produ??o Animal. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a fecal-orally transmitted member of the genus Hepevirus that causes acute hepatitis in humans and is widely distributed throughout the world. Pigs have been reported as the main source of genotypes 3 and 4 infection to humans in nonendemic areas. To investigate HEV infection in pigs from different regions of Par? state (Eastern Brazilian Amazon), we performed serological and molecular analyses of serum, fecal and liver samples from 151 adult pigs slaughtered between April and October 2010 in slaughterhouses in the metropolitan region of Bel?m, Par?. Among the animals tested, 8.6 per cente(13/151) were positive for anti-HEV IgG but not for anti-HEV IgM. HEV RNA was detected in 4.8 per cent (22/453) of the samples analyzed and 9.9 per cent (15/151) of the animals had at least one positive sample. Phylogenetic analysis showed that all sequences belonged to genotype 3 that were related to human isolates from other non-endemic regions, suggesting that theisolates had zoonotic potential. Subtypes 3c and 3f were simultaneously detected in some pigs, suggesting co-infection by more than one strain and/or the presence of a recombinant virus. These results constitute the first molecular and serologic evidence of swine HEVcirculation in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon.

Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil/ Universidade de S?o Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina Veterin?ria e Zootecnia. Departamento de Patologia. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil/ Universidade de S?o Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina Veterin?ria e Zootecnia. Departamento de Patologia. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. Universidade de S?o Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Instituto de Medicina Tropical. Laborat?rio de Gastroenterologia e Hepatologia Tropical. S?o Paulo, SP, Brazil. Minist?rio da Sa?de. Secretaria de Vigil?ncia em Sa?de. Instituto Evandro Chagas. Bel?m, PA, Brasil. The bush dog (Speothos venaticus) acts as the natural definitive host in the life cycle of Echinococcus vogeli, the causative agent of polycystic hydatid disease, a zoonotic neglected disease in the South America. We report a case of natural infection by Echinococcus vogeli in a bush dog from the Brazilian Amazon, confirmed by the morphological and morphometric examination of adult parasites and their hooks obtained from the small intestine of the canid. Additionally, mitochondrial DNA sequence analysis corroborated these findings. This is the second report of natural infection by E. vogeli in a bush dog.

The human Pegivirus (HPgV, also known as GBV-C virus or hepatitis G virus) is a lymphotropic RNA-virus phylogenetically related to the Hepatitis C virus, which infects approximately 5% of the world's human population. Recently, two novel, presumably hepatotropic, pegiviruses, designated as equine Pegivirus (EPgV) and Theiler's Disease Associated Virus (TDAV), were discovered in horses with clinical and laboratory evidence of hepatic disease. To verify the occurrence of pegiviruses infection in horses from Para State, northern Brazil, serum samples from 114 horses located in four cities (Acara, Belem, Dom Eliseu and Ananindeua) were submitted for the molecular analysis of EPgV by nested RT-PCR. The results of nucleotide sequencing and phylogenetic analysis of EPgV NS3 and NS5B genomic regions confirmed one positive sample among 114 tested samples (1/114; 0.8%). No evidence of TDAV infection was found, but despite the low prevalence and unknown clinical significance among the studied population, these results represent the first molecular detection of EPgV in horses in South America.

To the Editor: An estimated ≈150 million persons (3% of the world population) are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). This virus is the prototype of the genus Hepacivirus and a major cause of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma around the world. Every year, 3–4 million persons become infected with HCV, and ≈350,000 die of this infection (1). Development of an HCV vaccine has been hampered by the difficulty of in vitro cultivation of the agent and by lack of animal models for studies of viral functions and host immune reactions (1,2). The only effective experimental model that can be infected with HCV and in which the course of infection is similar to that in humans is the chimpanzee. Since the discovery of HCV-like virus in dogs with respiratory disease and nonspecific gastrointestinal disorder in the United States in 2011, tentatively named canine hepacivirus (2), new hepaciviruses have been detected in insectivorous bats (3), Old World monkeys (4), wild rodents (5,6), and domestic horses (6–8). These animals could potentially serve as HCV models, but the accuracy of HCV tissue tropism, pathology, and immunology in natural hosts needs to be demonstrated. No official nomenclature for these recently described hepaciviruses has been defined by the International Committee of Viral Taxonomy. In this article, we refer to the viruses detected in horses as conventional nonprimate hepaciviruses (NPHVs). The aim of this study was to verify NPHV infection in horses from 8 locations in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. During January 2011–November 2013, serum samples were collected from 300 equids in 7 cities and 1 district of the State of Para, Brazil (Technical Appendix). Samples came from 265 horses (Equus caballus), 30 mules (Equus mulus), and 5 donkeys (Equus asinus). All procedures for obtaining and using the samples were approved by the Ethics Committee on the Use of Animals in Research from the Evandro Chagas Institute (protocol code 0023/2012 CEUA/IEC/CENP/SVS/MS). Viral RNA was extracted from serum samples by using the TRIzol LS Reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA, USA), and a target sequence in the nonstructural 3 protein (NS3) region of the NPHV genome was amplified from the cDNA by using a previously reported nested PCR protocol (8). Second-round product reactions of ≈380 bp were considered positive. We used the BigDye Terminator version 3.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit and an ABI 3500 Genetic Analyzer (both from Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA, USA) for sequencing. To obtain consensus sequences, we used BioEdit software, version 7.0.5.3 (http://www.mbio.ncsu.edu/BioEdit/BioEdit.html). To phylogenetically analyze the virus sequences based on an NS3 partial nucleotide sequence of 294 bp, we used the maximum-likelihood method with the Kimura 2-parameter model in MEGA version 5.1 (http://www.megasoftware.net) (bootstrap, 1,000 replicates). The nucleotide distance was calculated by using PAUP version 4.0 software (http://paup.csit.fsu.edu/). The sequences obtained in this study have been assigned GenBank accession nos. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide-range","attrs":{"text":"KJ469442-KJ469466","start_term":"KJ469442","end_term":"KJ469466","start_term_id":"619834736","end_term_id":"619834784"}}KJ469442-KJ469466. Of the 300 serum samples, 25 (8.3%) were positive for NPHV by nested reverse transcription PCR; these results were confirmed by nucleotide sequencing. This prevalence of NPHV infection among horses in Brazil is higher than that reported for other countries (6–8). The prevalence among competition horses (19.1%) was remarkably higher than that among farm (6.3%) and cart horses (6.2%). Many possibilities for the higher prevalence in the first group, such as exposure to nonsterile needles shared by a large number of animals, must be considered; however, further studies are needed to investigate this hypothesis. No mules or donkeys tested in this study were infected by NPHV. A similar finding for another study has been reported (8), which might suggest that these species are not natural hosts for NPHV. Until now, it has been impossible to associate Hepacivirus infection in horses with clinical hepatic disease (7,8). All infected horses for which information was available were healthy at the time of sampling. Our finding of high NPHV prevalence among horses is consistent with findings of previous studies in which NPHV-mediated disease was not found, suggesting that the course of infection is chronic and largely asymptomatic, similar to that of HCV infection in humans. The sequences reported in this study shared close genetic relationships with previously reported NPHV sequences from dogs and horses (Figure) (2,6–8). The nucleotide distances of the sequences ranged from 0 to 19.9%. Figure Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic tree of the partial nucleotide sequences of the nonstructural protein 3 region (294 bp) of Hepacivirus. The retrieved sequences from GenBank are indicated by the accession number followed by the species from which each ... Many of these new isolates were grouped according to geographic origin, except for 2 sequences that grouped distantly from other isolates from Neotropical regions. One isolate ({"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"KJ469449","term_id":"619834750","term_text":"KJ469449"}}KJ469449), from a Quarter horse, was closely related to NPHV detected in horses in the United States (7); similarity was ≈94%. The other sequence from a Neotropical region ({"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"KJ469466","term_id":"619834784","term_text":"KJ469466"}}KJ469466), from a Marajoara horse, grouped closer to the NPHV from horses in Germany (6); similarity was as high as 95%. NPHV, one of the viruses most closely genetically related to HCV, is present in the Neotropics and was identified in the eastern Brazilian Amazon. The infection seems to be enzootic in the studied horse population and to be geographically dispersed in northeastern Para State. Technical Appendix: Locations in the State of Para (eastern Brazilian Amazon), Brazil, where blood samples were collected from 300 equids for nonprimate hepacivirus testing. Click here to view.(178K, pdf)