Zoonotic Pathogens

Hepatitis E Virus: An Investigation of Within-Herd Transmission and Factors Affecting Risk of Infection in Slaughter Age Pigs

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Abstract

Human infection with Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an increasing public health concern in Europe. The virus is endemic in parts of Asia and Africa, where genotypes 1 and 2 dominate and are transmitted between people via sewage-contaminated drinking water. HEV in Europe was previously associated with travel to endemic regions, but incidence of indigenously acquired infection has increased over the last decade due to the emergence of HEV genotype 3 (G3), which also infects pigs and is associated with zoonotic transmission (Adlhoch et al., 2016). Foodborne transmission of HEV G3 is believed to be an important route for human infection in Europe. HEV RNA has been detected in pork products (e.g. Berto et al., 2012) and consuming pork products has been identified as a risk factor for infection (Said et al., 2014). Efforts to reduce the risk of HEV contamination in the pork food chain have so far largely focused on developing methods for viral inactivation during processing. Measures to prevent HEV entering the food chain in the first place are also needed, but have received relatively little attention. Developing such measures requires an understanding of HEV transmission within the farm environment, which is currently lacking. Furthermore, on-farm practices that might mitigate the risk of actively infected pigs going to slaughter must be identified and investigated. Here we present the results of an on-farm pilot study that begins to address these knowledge gaps.

How to Cite:

Choudhury, B., Martelli, F., Smith, R. P., Grierson, S. & Withenshaw, S., (2019) “Hepatitis E Virus: An Investigation of Within-Herd Transmission and Factors Affecting Risk of Infection in Slaughter Age Pigs”, SafePork 13(1), 107–108. doi: https://doi.org//safepork.11206