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Hepatitis E virus infection in 6-month-old pigs in Taiwan.
- Source :
-
Scientific reports [Sci Rep] 2020 Oct 09; Vol. 10 (1), pp. 16869. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Oct 09. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of acute hepatitis E. Genotype 3 (G3) and 4 (G4) HEV have recently been identified in and isolated from swine as the main HEV genotypes worldwide. However, there is limited information on HEV infection status among pigs in Taiwan, especially pigs in the stage before transportation to the slaughterhouse. To determine the frequency of HEV infection among pigs in Taiwan, we detected and quantified HEV RNA contained in 295 fecal specimens collected from 6-month-old pigs bred in 30 pig farms located in 8 counties. We found that 25.1% (74/295) of the fecal specimens were positive for HEV RNA by a quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction, and the copy number ranged from 2.3 × 10 <superscript>3</superscript> to 2.08 × 10 <superscript>7</superscript> copies/g. Amplification of a 338 bp sequence in ORF2 was achieved in 16 of 74 HEV RNA-positive samples, and their nucleotide sequences were determined. Two HEV sequences appeared to belong to subtype 3a of G3 and the remaining 14 HEV sequences belonged to subtype 4b of G4 (G4b). The entire genome sequence of two G4b HEVs was obtained by next-generation sequence analyses, and the phylogenetic analyses indicated that unique G4b HEVs were circulating in pig farms in Taiwan. In the present study, we found that both G3 and G4 HEVs were circulating in Taiwanese pig farms and G4b was the predominant subtype. In addition, the relatively high detection frequency of HEV RNA in the 6-month-old pigs indicated that Taiwanese pigs just before transportation to the slaughterhouse are at risk of carrying HEVs, and thus thorough cooking or heating of pork meat or organs is needed before consumption in Taiwan and possibly in other countries as well.
- Subjects :
- Age Factors
Animals
Cooking
Hepatitis E epidemiology
Hepatitis E prevention & control
Hepatitis E virology
Hepatitis E virus genetics
Pork Meat
RNA, Viral isolation & purification
Swine
Taiwan epidemiology
Hepatitis E veterinary
Hepatitis E virus isolation & purification
Swine Diseases epidemiology
Swine Diseases virology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2045-2322
- Volume :
- 10
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Scientific reports
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 33037297
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-74034-8