Hepatitis E virus infection among animals and humans in Xinjiang, China: possibility of swine to human transmission of sporadic hepatitis E in an endemic area.
Hepatitis E is a worldwide public health problem, especially in areas with poor sanitation. This study examines the potential hepatitis E virus (HEV) animal reservoirs and the current status of HEV infection among animals and humans in an endemic area of Xinjiang, China. One thousand five hundred twenty-one serum samples from 12 different animal species and 296 sera from humans were detected for anti-HEV with an in-house enzyme immunoassay, and partial HEV RNA was amplified with a reverse transcription-nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nPCR). All these distinct animal species, except jerboa and hoptoad, were positive for anti-HEV. However, HEV RNA was only amplified from pigs and a sporadic hepatitis E case in humans. The human HEV strain (CHN-XJ-HE29) shared 100% nucleotide identity with the swine HEV strain (CHN-XJ-SW50), both of which were collected from the same district; this indicates the possibility of HEV transmission from swine to humans in an endemic area.
Fu
Hongwei
H
Department of Microbiology, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
Li
Lingjun
L
Zhu
Yonghong
Y
Wang
Ling
L
Geng
Jiabao
J
Chang
Yibin
Y
Xue
Cheng
C
Du
Gang
G
Li
Yaning
Y
Zhuang
Hui
H
D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D001001:Anura; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005399:Fishes; D005838:Genotype; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D012377:Rodentia; D013045:Species Specificity; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D015047:Zoonoses
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D012367:RNA, Viral