Hepatitis E virus antibodies in swine herds of Mato Grosso state, Central Brazil

Abstract

There is no information about evidence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in swines in Central Brazil. In order to assess if HEV circulates in swines of the State of Mato Grosso, Central Brazil, a seroprevalence study was conducted including pigs from 17 farms, corresponding to 13 counties. The animals were randomly chosen among pigs arriving to two slaughterhouses between December 2002 and February 2003. Serum samples were collected and tested for IgG antibodies against HEV (anti-HEV) by enzyme immunoassay (EIA). This EIA uses two HEV recombinant proteins as antigens, a mosaic protein (MP-II) and a protein containing region 452-617 of the ORF2 of the HEV Burma strain as coating antigens. 211 out of 260 pigs (81.2%; 95CI = 75.7%, 85.6%) were anti-HEV reactive. The seropositivity did not vary with gender or age, but ranges from 15% to 100% among the farms. Our results point out that HEV seems to circulate among pigs in Mato Grosso State, suggesting that this virus is spread over the region, as seen in other countries worldwide.

HEV infection in swine from Eastern Brazilian Amazon: Evidence of co-infection by different subtypes

“…We found that among pigs from this region 9.9% (15/151) were currently infected with HEV (HEV RNA positive); these findings confirm the circulation of HEV among pigs in Brazil, where pigs with HEV infection also has been reported in other three different regions of the country [14,15,27]. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG found among pigs from Pará state was lower (8.6%; 13/151) than that previously reported among pigs from other Brazilian regions: in pigs from Mato Grosso state a high (81.2%) seroprevalence of anti-HEV IgG was found [28], whereas in the Rio de Janeiro state, at southeastern region, the seroprevalence was 24.3% [29]. Differences in prevalence of serological markers of HEV infection (anti-HEV IgG/IgM) around the world have been related to specificity and sensibility of the commercially available serological assays and this may explain the differences seen in HEV seroprevalence results among pigs from different regions of Brazil [30].…”

Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus infection in domestic pigs in the Federal District, Brazil

“…There was no difference in prevalence between genders (p=0.1) and age classes (p=0.58), once again concurring with Guimarães et al (2005). This can be explained because both studies analyzed only young and adult samples and the disease appears to have no preference among genders.…”

“…A high prevalence of anti-HEV IgG was detected in domestic pigs in the Federal District. A high prevalence of swine anti-HEV antibodies was also detected by Guimarães et al (2005) (Souza et al, 2012).…”

“…However, there are few studies about the prevalence of HEV in its domestic swine herd. Moreover, in two of these studies conducted in the states of Mato Grosso and Rio de Janeiro, a high seroprevalence of HEV was found in pigs (Guimarães et al, 2005;. Thus, a cross-sectional study was performed in order to estimate the seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus infection among domestic pigs from different localities in the Federal District, Brazil.…”

Prevalence of hepatitis E virus antibodies in individuals exposed to swine in Mato Grosso, Brazil

“…In the state of Mato Grosso (MT), which is one of the top regions for swine production in Brazil, there is evidence for a high level of circulation of genotype 3 HEV among swine (Guimarães et al 2005, dos Santos et al 2009). However, it has not been investigated whether individuals who came into contact with these animals would possess an increased risk for this type of infection.…”