High seroprevalence of hepatitis E among pigs suggests an animal reservoir in Cameroon

Abstract

Introduction: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the most prevalent cause of acute hepatitis in humans worldwide. The risk of HEV transmission is not limited only to spread from human to human but the infection can also spread from animals to humans, especially from the domestic pigs. Despite mounting evidence regarding the zoonotic potential of porcine HEV infection, there are limited data on its prevalence in pigs in the sub-Sahara Africa region. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HEV antibodies among pigs in two Cameroonian regions.
 Methodology: A total of 162 sera were collected from slaughtered-age pigs from January to March 2012. To determine whether pigs might represent a HEV reservoir in the Northern and Western region in Cameroon, anti-HEV IgG and IgM were tested by ELISA using commercials available kits.
 Results: Overall, 70 of the 162 samples (43.2%, 95% CI: 35.5% - 51.2%) were positive for at least one of the serological markers of HEV infection (IgM and / or IgG).We observed a significant seroprevalence of HEV antibodies between the northern and western regions (60% (42/70) and 40% (28/70), p = 0.01796) respectively.
 Conclusion: Overall, this study reports a high seroprevalence of Hepatitis E virus antibodies in slaughter pigs in Cameroon. Our findings suggest that pigs might be a cause of zoonotic HEV transmission in Cameroon. Therefore, further studies are warranted to establish the dynamics of zoonotic HEV and characterize the different genotypes circulating in humans and pigs.

Serological and molecular investigation of hepatitis E virus in pigs reservoirs from Cameroon reveals elevated seroprevalence and presence of genotype 3

“…This difference may also be associated with the different HEV diagnostic methods used in these different studies. Our study shows high seroprevalence of IgM (21.0%) compared to IgG (17.7%) similarly to the previous study by Modiyinji et al [12]. This could be explained by the fact that majority of the pigs in this study were older than 6 months, since, Seminati et al in 2008 shows that pigs older than 12 weeks of age have a higher IgM seroprevalence, compared to IgG seroprevalence [17].…”

“…There is accumulated evidence that HEV is enzootic in a broad range of animals in Cameroon. Serological analyses have revealed the presence of anti-HEV antibodies among pigs and nonhuman primates in previous studies in Cameroon [12,13]. We noted high anti-HEV seropositivity in this study of 47.7% similarly to the 43.2% that was previously reported in the North and West regions of Cameroon [12], confirming that pigs are indeed a main reservoir for HEV.…”

“…Serological analyses have revealed the presence of anti-HEV antibodies among pigs and nonhuman primates in previous studies in Cameroon [12,13]. We noted high anti-HEV seropositivity in this study of 47.7% similarly to the 43.2% that was previously reported in the North and West regions of Cameroon [12], confirming that pigs are indeed a main reservoir for HEV. We noted anti-HEV IgM and IgG seropositivity of 21.0% and 17.7% respectively which is higher than reports from Nigeria and Mexico and lower than reports from Madagascar and Scotland [2,10,14,15].…”

Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus antibodies in different human populations of Cameroon

“…All samples were tested for the presence of anti‐HEV antibodies with an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA): HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG) ELISA and HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM) ELISA 3.0 kits (MP Biomedicals Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, Singapore; formerly Genelabs Diagnostics Pte). The test was carried out according to the manufacturer's instructions and assay validity was evaluated according to the manufacturer's specifications as previously described …”

Systematic Review of Important Viral Diseases in Africa in Light of the ‘One Health’ Concept

“…Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is also widespread among pigs. A serological study found that 70 out of 162 pigs sampled were positive for HEV [156]. The study suggested the pigs were the animal reservoir of HEV in Cameroon [156].…”