Hepatitis E Virus Infection among Domestic Animals in Eastern China

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic pathogen of which several species of animal were reported as reservoirs. Antibodies to HEV and HEV RNA have been detected in some Chinese population and swine groups but few other domestic animals. In this study, to investigate the HEV prevalence, we tested sera from 788 pigs, 100 cows, 50 goats, 49 horses, 101 pet dogs, 105 chickens, 47 duck and 45 pigeons in eastern China for anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG). We also tested 50% of the swine sera, all of sera from the other domestic animals and 13 Shanghai human sera which were positive for anti-HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) for HEV RNA using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Our results indicated that 82.5% (222/269) of the sows, 53.9% (104/193) of the 4- to 6-month-old swine, 63.4% (168/265) of the 1- to 3-month-old swine, 55.7% (34/61) of the slaughterhouse swine, 24% (12/50) of the goats, 16.3% (8/49) of the horses, 17.8% (21/101) of the pet dogs, 6% (6/100) of the cows, 12.8% (6/47) of the ducks, 4.4% (2/45) of the pigeons and 1.9% (2/105) of the chickens exhibited positive for anti-HEV IgG. Inhibition assay confirmed the infection with HEV or HEV-like viruses in these domestic animals except pigeons and chickens. From the sera, we isolated 18 swine HEV strains, one horse HEV strain and two human HEV strains. Sequence analysis showed that the horse HEV isolate and one swine isolate belonged to genotype 3. The other isolates belonged to genotype 4. The two human isolates were phylogenetically closely related to eight of the swine isolates. In short, the presence of anti-HEV antibody had been confirmed in several species of domestic animals in eastern China and HEV RNA has been identified in swine, human and horse. This suggested that the authorities should pay more attention to the prevalence of HEV in eastern China.

Hepatitis E Virus Infection among Animals and Humans in Xinjiang, China: Possibility of Swine to Human Transmission of Sporadic Hepatitis E in an Endemic Area

“…It has been reported that anti-HEV prevalence among horses in Egypt and eastern China is 13.0% and 16.6%, respectively, and partial HEV genomes were also identified in horses from these two areas. 23,24 However, no more studies could independently confirm it, and our study failed to amplify HEV RNA from donkeys and horses in Xinjiang, although similar anti-HEV prevalence rates were found in donkeys (13.77%) and horses (11.00%). Consequently, the occasional reports of isolation HEV RNA from horses seem to represent laboratory contamination rather than genuine infection.…”

“…Cows showed the lowest positive rate (6.50%) for anti-HEV among domestic herbivorous animals with a rate similar to the 6.00% reported in eastern China. 23 This suggests that cows might be less susceptible to HEV than horses, donkeys, and goats.…”

“…However, Zhang and others 23 reported that there was a significantly higher prevalence of anti-HEV among Han nationality populations (73%; 147/200) than among age-and geography-matched Muslim populations (15.77%; 59/374). 35 This indicates that differences in ethnic culture background and diet habits, especially consumption of pork, greatly influence the prevalence of HEV infection.…”

“…The prevalence of anti-HEV among goats was 7.50% in this study, lower than the 24% in eastern China reported by Zhang and others. 23 Experimental infection on lambs with human HEV strain (Osh-225 and Osh-228) was successfully performed by Usmanov and others, 25 but so far, HEV RNA has not been detected in domestic sheep with HEV infection. Cows showed the lowest positive rate (6.50%) for anti-HEV among domestic herbivorous animals with a rate similar to the 6.00% reported in eastern China.…”

Restricted Enzooticity of Hepatitis E Virus Genotypes 1 to 4 in the United States

“…These include rodents (1,10,12,14,25,27,28,51,60,64), cats (31,35,41,43), dogs (1,35,41,60,71), horses (14,16,49,71), donkeys (14), goats (14,16,45,52,71), sheep (5,45,61,66,68), cattle (1,5,14,21,60,63,71), rabbits (16,17), nonhuman primates (46,67), mongooses (34,42), chickens (18,23,52,60,71), ducks …”