Hepatitis E virus antibody prevalence among persons who work with swine.
Prevalence of antibody and risk factors to hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection were determined in a cross-sectional study of 2 group-matched populations: swine farmers (n=264) and persons without occupational exposure to swine (n=255) in Moldova, a country without reported cases of hepatitis E. The prevalence of HEV infection was higher among swine farmers than among the comparison group (51.1% vs. 24.7%; prevalence ratio, 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.62-2.64). In multivariate analysis, HEV infection was associated with an occupational history of cleaning barns or assisting sows at birth (odds ratio [OR], 2.46; 95% CI, 1.52-4.01), years of occupational exposure (OR, 1.04 per year; 95% CI, 1.01-1.07), and a history of drinking raw milk (OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.08-2.40). HEV infection was not associated with civilian travel abroad or having piped water in the household. The increased prevalence of HEV infection among persons with occupational exposure to swine suggests animal-to-human transmission of this infection.
Drobeniuc
J
J
Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. jqd6@cdc.gov
Favorov
M O
MO
Shapiro
C N
CN
Bell
B P
BP
Mast
E E
EE
Dadu
A
A
Culver
D
D
Iarovoi
P
P
Robertson
B H
BH
Margolis
H S
HS
D000382:Agricultural Workers' Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000662:veterinary / Q000821:virology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008966:Moldova / Q000453:epidemiology; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies