High Prevalence of Hepatitis E Virus in Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Hepatitis E virus (HEV) causes a food-and water-borne disease in humans, and Japanese wild boar (Sus scrofa leucomystax) meat is one of the most important sources of infection in Japan. We tested 113 serum samples from wild boar captured in Shimonoseki City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan from 2010 to 2012. Serum samples were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using virus-like particles as antigen and nested reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR). Anti-HEV IgG antibodies were detected in 47 of the 113 wild boar serum samples (42%), and HEV RNA was detected in five samples (4%). Sequence analysis showed that the five HEV isolates belonged to genotype 4, forming a cluster with a previous isolate from a human hepatitis E case in this region in 2011. These results indicate that wild boar in this region are infected with potentially pathogenic HEV at a high prevalence.

Viral and Antibody Prevalence of Hepatitis E in European Wild Boars (Sus scrofa) and Hunters at Zoonotic Risk in the Latium Region

“…Genotypes 3 and 4 have been isolated from many species, including pigs, wild boars, deer, rats (Rattus spp. ), rabbits (Leporidae), mongooses (Herpestidae) and horses (Equus caballus) (Meng et al, 1997;Nakamura et al, 2006;Saad et al, 2007;Geng et al, 2010;Johne et al, 2010;Cossaboom et al, 2011;Hara et al, 2014).…”

“…Furthermore, a high HEV seroprevalence has been detected in a significant proportion of healthy individuals in non-endemic countries (Aggarwal and Jameel, 2011;Ruggeri et al, 2013). Infection with HEV is now a recognized zoonosis, with deer, domestic pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus) and wild boars (Sus scrofa leucomystax) acting as reservoirs for human infection in developed countries (Hara et al, 2014;Takahashi and Okamoto, 2014).…”

Isolation and characterization of a novel Rhabdovirus from a wild boar (Sus scrofa) in Japan

“…Numerous viruses have been detected in wild boar, including hepatitis E virus, Aujeszky's disease virus, porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, porcine parvovirus, classical swine fever virus, African swine fever virus, swine vesicular virus, swine influenza virus, and porcine circovirus type 2 (Meng et al, 2009;Montagnaro et al, 2010;Vengust et al, 2006;Vicente et al, 2002). In addition, we have recently isolated sapelovirus-like virus (wild boar sapelo virus-like virus 1; WBSV1) (Abe et al, 2011) and have detected antibodies to Aujeszky's disease virus, canine distemper virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, and hepatitis E virus in wild boars in Japan (Hara et al, 2014;Kameo et al, 2012;Mahmoud et al, 2011;Ohno et al, 2009). Human habitation of suburban areas and deforestation for agricultural purposes may increase the chance of wild boar contact with domestic animals and humans.…”

Hepatitis E virus in archived sera from wild boars (Sus scrofa ), Czech Republic

“…These strains have much limited public health relevance, and their zoonotic potential remains to be clarified. The majority of publications interested in the presence of HEV in wild boars and their potential role as a reservoir of this virus came from Japan (Hara et al., ; Matsuda, Okada, Takahashi, & Mishiro, ), and later on, the data about HEV in wild boars from different European countries followed (Porea et al., ).…”