Detection of hepatitis E virus of genotype 3 in a farm pig in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo).
Autochthonous hepatitis E is an emerging disease in industrialized countries where a growing body of data indicates that pigs represent a reservoir for hepatitis E virus (HEV) of genotype 3 or 4. In Africa, only HEV genotypes 1 and 2 have been identified in hepatitis E outbreaks as well as in sporadic cases. We aimed to investigate whether commercial pigs in sub-Saharan Africa might represent an HEV reservoir using molecular assays. Faecal samples from 40 pigs of the Pietrain race housed in a farm in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo) were tested using in-house real-time reverse transcription (RT)-PCR and sequencing assays. HEV RNA was detected in faeces of one (2.5%) pig, and the HEV sequence obtained from this pig was classified genotype 3c, and was genetically related to human HEV sequences from France (89-92% nucleotide similarity) and pig HEV sequences from The Netherlands (88-91% nucleotide similarity). Epidemiological investigations revealed that Kinshasa farm pigs tested in the present study are descendants of pigs imported from Belgium in 2002, suggesting that pig HEV genotype 3c recovered in our study may have been imported from Belgium to Democratic Republic of the Congo. Our findings, although needing to be confirmed in further studies, also suggest that pigs in sub-Saharan Africa may be an HEV reservoir.
URMITE CNRS UMR 6236 IRD198, Facultés de Médecine et de Pharmacie, Université de Méditerranée, 27 boulevard Jean Moulin, 13385 Marseille cedex 05, France.
Mamadou
M
Kaba
Philippe
P
Colson
Jean-Pierre
JP
Musongela
Léon
L
Tshilolo
Bernard
B
Davoust
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo / Q000453:epidemiology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000662:veterinary; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D005838:Genotype; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000821:virology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000821:virology*
D012367:RNA, Viral