In high-income countries, the hepatitis E virus (HEV) is considered an emerging threat causing autochthonous acute hepatitis in humans, with an increased number of reported cases over the last 10 years and related increased burden of chronic hepatitis in immunocompromised and transplant patients. Pigs are the main reservoir of the HEV-3 genotype, which is the most common in Europe, and can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of raw and undercooked pork products. Extensive sequencing revealed the existence of several HEV-3 subtypes in both humans and pigs, confirming a broad heterogeneity of the virus, with some subtypes, such as 3e, 3f, and 3c, which are predominant in Europe. In this study, 291 HEV sequences were obtained from pig feces sampled in more than 74 farms located in Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, the United Kingdom, as well as an unknown number of farms in Netherlands. Of the 99 nonidentical sequences (99/291), 90 were assigned to seven established HEV-3 subtypes: 3a, 3c, 3e, 3f, 3g (here named 3g-like), 3i, and 3l (named 3l-like), already described in Europe, while nine sequences of HEV-3 could not be assigned to any existing subtype (here named 3 ∗ ). The 3e subtype was the most common, detected in six out of eight countries, followed by 3f and 3c, which were also present in several countries; 3g-like, 3i, and 3l-like subtypes showed only a limited circulation. The distribution of frequently (3e, 3f, and 3c) and rarely (3g-like, 3i, and 3l-like) detected HEV-3 subtypes in pigs was correlated with their detection rates in human patients in Europe. The results from this study confirm the wide circulation of several HEV-3 strains in European pigs and confirm that sequencing is needed to monitor the different strains and to identify possible zoonotic transmission paths.

• MeSH
• feces virologie   MeSH
• fylogeneze MeSH
• genotyp MeSH
• hepatitida E * veterinární   virologie   epidemiologie   MeSH
• nemoci prasat * virologie   epidemiologie   MeSH
• prasata MeSH
• virus hepatitidy E * genetika   izolace a purifikace   klasifikace   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Evropa epidemiologie   MeSH

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the etiological agent behind hepatitis E infection. Domestic pigs and wild boars are the main animal reservoirs of HEV. Very few papers describe HEV infection in goats and sheep. As the data pertaining to the presence of HEV virus in the milk of small ruminants in Europe are lacking, the aim of this paper was to examine a representative number of milk samples from these animals. The detection of HEV genome (HEV RNA) was performed using reverse transcriptase real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). HEV RNA was found in 2.8% of the examined samples. Positivity ranged from 101 to 103 genome equivalents/mL (GE/mL) with a median of 9.99 × 102 GE/mL. On the basis of these results, the milk of small ruminants could represent a source of HEV infection to consumers.

• Klíčová slova
• HEV, RT-qPCR, milk, small ruminant,
• MeSH
• hepatitida E veterinární   MeSH
• kozy virologie   MeSH
• mléko virologie   MeSH
• nemoci zvířat diagnóza   virologie   MeSH
• ovce virologie   MeSH
• RNA virová MeSH
• virus hepatitidy E genetika   izolace a purifikace   MeSH
• zvířata MeSH
• Check Tag
• zvířata MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Geografické názvy
• Česká republika MeSH
• Názvy látek
• RNA virová MeSH

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is now accepted as a zoonotic virus, and domestic pigs, wild boars and deer are recognised as natural reservoirs of the pathogen. In this study, 762 animals (wild boars, fallow deer, red deer, sika deer, roe deer and mouflons) originating from the wild and from game enclosures were tested for the presence of HEV RNA by qRT-PCR. HEV RNA was detected in wild boars (96/450), red deer (2/169), roe deer (1/30) and mouflons (5/39). The sequence relationship between HEV isolates from wild boars and domestic pigs or humans indicate a circulation of HEV in the Czech Republic.

• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH