Identification of the first strain of swine hepatitis E virus in South America and prevalence of anti-HEV antibodies in swine in Argentina

• Published in: Journal of medical virology Vol. 78; no. 12; pp. 1579 - 1583
• Main Authors: Munné, María S., Vladimirsky, Sara, Otegui, Lucio, Castro, Raúl, Brajterman, Leonardo, Soto, Sonia, Guarnera, Eduardo, Molina, Viviana, Monfellano, Marcela, Schlauder, George G., González, Jorge E.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01-12-2006; Wiley-Liss
• Subjects: Animals; Argentina - epidemiology; Biological and medical sciences; Epidemiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; genetic relatedness; Genetics; Hepatitis Antibodies - blood; Hepatitis E - epidemiology; Hepatitis E - veterinary; Hepatitis E - virology; Hepatitis E virus; Hepatitis E virus - classification; Hepatitis E virus - genetics; Hepatitis E virus - immunology; Hepatitis E virus - isolation & purification; HEV; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; phylogenetic analysis; Phylogeny; Prevalence; South America - epidemiology; Swine - virology; Swine Diseases - epidemiology; Swine Diseases - virology; swine HEV; Viral diseases; Virology; Zoonoses - epidemiology; Zoonoses - virology; zoonotic infection; South America; Argentina; America; Prevalence; Antibody; Identification; Phylogeny; zoonotic infection; Epidemiology; Hepatitis E virus; Strain; Virus; Calicivirus; Vertebrata; phylogenetic analysis; Mammalia; Swine; Caliciviridae; genetic relatedness; HEV; Genetics; swine HEV; Artiodactyla; Veterinary; Ungulata
• ISSN: 0146-6615; 1096-9071
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.20741

In Argentina, a country considered non‐endemic for hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection, serologic evidence of HEV infection has been observed in different human population groups. In other countries, a high degree of genetic relatedness has been observed between human and swine HEV genotype 3 sequences, suggesting zoonosis as one probable route of infection. This is the first identification of swine HEV in South America. HEV RNA was detected and sequenced in the ORF 1 and ORF 2 regions from swine fecal samples from a herd located in Pergamino, in the province of Buenos Aires. These strains all group into genotype 3 and exhibit a close relationship to two novel HEV variants previously identified in Argentina from sporadic acute cases of non‐A to ‐C hepatitis in humans. In addition, using a modified commercial ELISA, the presence of anti‐HEV antibodies was surveyed in five provinces across the country and all five showed a prevalence of HEV antibodies, ranging from 4% to 58%. The results suggest that swine could be an important reservoir for virus transmission in Argentina as has been suggested for other non‐endemic areas. The Argentine human strains and swine strain described in this article seem to be closely related to a human Austrian strain, suggesting a potential European origin of HEV infection in these cases. J. Med. Virol. 78:1579–1583, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.