title: Different fecal shedding patterns of two common strains of hepatitis E virus at three Japanese swine farms.
abstract: Zoonotic infections caused by eating the meat of deer, wild boar, and pig have been suggested in Japan, a country that is not epidemic for hepatitis E caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV). This virus is widely spread in domestic pigs in both epidemic and non-epidemic countries. We studied fecal HEV shedding patterns on three Japanese farms that had two common genotype III HEV strains. Two of the three farms had high shedding peaks (75% and 100%) in pigs 1-3 months of age, suggesting that these animals had the highest risk of spreading HEV through feces. Another farm had a low shedding rate in animals six months of age and a low prevalence of the IgG antibody to HEV. Fecal IgA antibody to HEV was found in sucking pigs < 13 days of age on farms that had high and low shedding patterns. A small fraction of pigs (3 of 43 [7%]) at the finishing stage (5-6 months of age) still shed HEV on the three farms.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Animal Health, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Izumi
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: Kanako
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.forename: Masaaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshii
authors.forename: Tian-Cheng
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Naokazu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsunemitsu
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007564:Japan; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013552:Swine / Q000821:virology*; D017201:Virus Shedding / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D012367:RNA, Viral