Serological and virological survey of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in animal reservoirs from Uruguay reveals elevated prevalences and a very close phylogenetic relationship between swine and human strains

Mirazo, Santiago; Gardinali, Noemi Rovaris; Cecilia, D'Albora; Verger, Lorenzo; Ottonelli, Florencia; Ramos, Natália; Castro, Gustavo; Pinto, Marcelo Alves; Ré, Viviana Elizabeth; Pisano, Belén; Lozano, Alejandra; Oliveira, Jaqueline Mendes de

doi:10.1016/j.vetmic.2017.11.013

Cited by 29 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…However, it is worth mentioning that HEV detection results can be influenced by the nature of the sample analysed. In line with this, different reports studied HEV presence in different swine specimens, like serum, faeces, bile and liver, showing a high variability in the frequency of HEV infection (De Souza et al, 2012;Mirazo et al, 2018). Moreover, HEV is excreted in animal faeces at some point in the infection, which may account for the low percentage found in the present study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…HEV‐3 is the most prevalent in industrialized countries of Europe and America being proposed as zoonotically transmitted to humans or via the environment. Supporting this, HEV strains isolated from humans are closely related to those encountered in farm animals, mainly in pigs, from the same geographic region (Feagins, Opriessnig, Guenette, Halbur, & Meng, ; Mirazo et al, ). The consumption of raw or undercooked meat, or even a close contact with these infected animals, has been suggested as risk factors for HEV infection (Berto, Martelli, Grierson, & Banks, ; Colson et al, ; Heldt et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…HEV‐3 was found in bile swine (9.6%) and effluent samples from slaughterhouses of Brazil (dos Santos, de Paula, de Oliveira, Marchevsky, & Pinto, ). In Colombia, an infection rate of 41.3% was informed when analysing HEV presence in pig livers, and more recently, a rate of 16.6% was reported in Uruguay after performing the same analysis (Gutiérrez‐Vergara, Quintero, Duarte, Suescún, & López‐Herrera, ; Mirazo et al, ). Likewise, in Argentina it has been also demonstrated the circulation of HEV (Munné et al, , ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detection of HEV in naturally infected swine from central Argentina by an optimized HEV/MS2 duplex RT‐qPCR

Marziali

Acosta

Bolatti

et al. 2019

Zoonoses and Public Health

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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is currently considered as a global health concern due to the recognition of its zoonotic transmission to humans, mainly from swine, and its association with the development of severe cases of hepatitis in human risk populations. The lack of updated data on HEV state of infection in swineherds of Argentina, and the necessity of robust technologies for its detection in complex biological samples, positions HEV as an emerging issue in public health. Here, we have optimized a RT‐qPCR with internal control for a more precise and accurate HEV RNA detection in swine stool samples. We implemented this optimized molecular tool to analyse the current epidemiological scenario of HEV infection in swine from the core region of commercial activity of Argentina. A total of 135 stool samples were collected from 16 different farms and tested for HEV presence, resulting in 11 positive cases (8.1%). Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that all of them correspond to HEV genotype 3 and that different subtypes circulate in the region. Moreover, two of the detected strains presented a high nucleotide similarity with a previously identified isolate from human sewage discharges, suggesting the zoonotic transmission of HEV to humans. Collectively, this work provides a better understanding of HEV epidemiology in Argentina while contributes to the improvement of HEV detection technologies.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detection of HEV in naturally infected swine from central Argentina by an optimized HEV/MS2 duplex RT‐qPCR

Marziali

Acosta

Bolatti

et al. 2019

Zoonoses and Public Health

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“…In Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, by contrast, antibody prevalences among swine herds seem to be lower and exhibit a significant variability among different geographical regions, ranging from 0.6% to 58%, depending on the study …”

Section: Detection Of Hev In Domestic and Wild Animals In South Americamentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In Uruguay, Mirazo et al (2018) have recently documented the detection of HEV‐3 RNA in liver samples from slaughter‐age pigs (16.6% of positivity), indicating a wide circulation of the virus and a potential risk for zoonotic transmission.…”

Section: Detection Of Hev In Domestic and Wild Animals In South Americamentioning

confidence: 99%

Hepatitis E virus in South America: The current scenario

Pisano

Martinez‐Wassaf²,

Mirazo

et al. 2018

Liver International

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Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the most frequent causes of acute viral hepatitis of enteric transmission worldwide. In South America the overall epidemiology has been little studied, and the burden of the disease remains largely unknown. A research of all scientific articles about HEV circulation in South America until November 2017 was carried out. Human seroprevalences of HEV varied according to the studied population: blood donors presented prevalence rates ranging from 1.8% to 9.8%, while reports from HIV‐infected individuals, transplant recipients and patients on hemodialysis showed higher prevalence rates. Only 2 cases of chronic hepatitis in solid‐organ transplant patients from Argentina and Brazil have been described. Detection of HEV in the swine population is widely prevalent in the region. Anti‐HEV antibodies have also been recently documented in wild boars from Uruguay. Although scarce, studies focused on environmental and food HEV detection have shown viral presence in these kind of samples, highlighting possible transmission sources of HEV in the continent. HEV genotype 3 was the most frequently detected in the region, with HEV genotype 1 detected only in Venezuela and Uruguay. HEV is widely distributed throughout South America, producing sporadic cases of acute hepatitis, but as a possible agent of chronic hepatitis. Finding the virus in humans, animals, environmental samples and food, show that it can be transmitted through many sources, alerting local governments and health systems to improve diagnosis and for the implementation of preventive measures.

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