title: Experimental evidence of hepatitis A virus infection in pigs.
abstract: Hepatitis A virus (HAV) is the leading cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide, with HAV infection being restricted to humans and nonhuman primates. In this study, HAV infection status was serologically determined in domestic pigs and experimental infections of HAV were attempted to verify HAV infectivity in pigs. Antibodies specific to HAV or HAV-like agents were detected in 3.5% of serum samples collected from pigs in swine farms. When the pigs were infected intravenously with 2 × 10(5) 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50 ) of HAV, shedding of the virus in feces, viremia, and seroconversion were detected. In pigs orally infected with the same quantity of HAV, viral shedding was detected only in feces. HAV genomic RNA was detected in the liver and bile of intravenously infected pigs, but only in the bile of orally infected pigs. In further experiments, pigs were intravenously infected with 6 × 10(5) TCID50 of HAV. Shedding of HAV in feces, along with viremia and seroconversion, were confirmed in infected pigs but not in sentinel pigs. HAV genomic RNA was detected in the liver, bile, spleen, lymph node, and kidney of the infected pigs. HAV antigenomic RNA was detected in the spleen of one HAV-infected pig, suggesting HAV replication in splenic cells. Infiltration of inflammatory cells was observed in the livers of infected pigs but not in controls. This is the first experimental evidence to demonstrate that human HAV strains can infect pigs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Jo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Woo-Jung
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Joo
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Kwak
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yong-Hyeon
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joong-Bok
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung-Yong
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Chang-Seon
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kun-Ho
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-Sun
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Choi-Kyu
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Viral Disease Division, Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, Anyang, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Song
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: In-Soo
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Choi
mesh_terms: D000825:Animal Structures / Q000821:virology; D000818:Animals; D001826:Body Fluids / Q000821:virology; D005243:Feces / Q000821:virology; D006506:Hepatitis A / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D030041:Hepatitis A virus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D034421:Sus scrofa; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D014779:Virus Replication; D017201:Virus Shedding
chemical_list: D035922:Hepatitis A Antibodies
keywords: HAV; infection; pig; replication; seroconversion