title: [Study on the prevalence and genotype of hepatitis E virus among commercial swine population in Eastern and Southern China].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence and genotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV) among commercial swine population in Eastern and Southern China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Six hundred specimens of swine bile collected from 5 slaughterhouses in Eastern and Southern China from 2007 to 2009 were tested for HEV RNA using nested RT-PCR. PCR products were sequenced for phylogenetic analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-seven out of the 600 samples (7.83%) were positive for HEV RNA. Based on the 150 nt fragment within HEV ORF2, data from phylogenetic analysis revealed that all the 47 HEV isolates were identified to be genotype IV, sharing 75.0% - 83.4%, 75.0% - 84.6%, 71.9% - 80.7% and 88.1% - 91.5% nucleotide identities with prototype I, II, III and IV HEV strains respectively while majority of the isolates clustered within their respective isolation sites.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HEV was widespread in commercial swine population in Eastern and Southern China that raised a serious concern about the safety regarding the consumption of pork products.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Fudan University, the Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Yu-gang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Yi-han
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: An-qun
authors.initials: AQ
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Xiao-lian
authors.initials: XL
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Jian-fu
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Qing-wu
authors.initials: QW
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Ying-jie
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005838:Genotype; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D008460:Meat; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D013552:Swine / Q000821:virology*; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral