| Theme |
Update on Hepatitis E |
| Title |
Hepatitis E as a Zoonotic Disease : Hepatitis E Virus Infection among Pigs |
| Author |
Masaharu Takahashi |
Division of Virology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine |
| Author |
Hiroaki Okamoto |
Division of Virology, Department of Infection and Immunity, Jichi Medical University School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
Infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV) is highly prevalent among domestic pigs in many countries around the world including Japan, where genotype 3 and 4 HEVs circulate. Although there has been no direct evidence indicating HEV transmission from pigs to humans, experimental infection with HEV revealed that HEV from swine is transmissible to a chimpanzee. Furthermore, swine HEV strains with a nucleotide sequence identity of 100 % to human HEV strains have been recognized ; the majority of hepatitis E patients in Hokkaido reported a history of ingesting uncooked or undercooked pig liver 0.5 - 2 months before the onset of the disease ; and HEV RNA was detected in 1.9 % (7/363) packages of raw pig liver sold in grocery stores as food in Hokkaido. Therefore, it is beyond doubt that hepatitis E is transmitted by ingestion of uncooked or undercooked meat or viscera from pigs infected with HEV. |