Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Nov;15(11):1738-44.
doi: 10.3201/eid1511.091094.

Hepatitis E outbreak on cruise ship

Bengü Said  1 , Samreen Ijaz, George Kafatos, Linda Booth, H Lucy Thomas, Amanda Walsh, Mary Ramsay, Dilys Morgan; Hepatitis E Incident Investigation Team
Collaborators, Affiliations

Hepatitis E outbreak on cruise ship

Bengü Said et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2009 Nov.

Abstract

In 2008, acute hepatitis E infection was confirmed in 4 passengers returning to the United Kingdom after a world cruise. Epidemiologic investigation showed that of 789 persons who provided blood samples, 195 (25%) were seropositive, 33 (4%) had immunoglobulin [Ig] M levels consistent with recent acute infection (11 of these persons were symptomatic), and 162 (21%) had IgG only, consistent with past infection. Passenger mean age was 68 years. Most (426/789, 54%) passengers were female, yet most with acute infection (25/33, 76%) were male. Sequencing of RNA from 3 case-patients identified hepatitis E virus genotype 3, closely homologous to genotype 3 viruses from Europe. Significant association with acute infection was found for being male, drinking alcohol, and consuming shellfish while on board (odds ratio 4.27, 95% confidence interval 1.23-26.94, p = 0.019). This was probably a common-source foodborne outbreak.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure
Figure
Recruitment of study participants from among UK passengers on world cruise with hepatitis E outbreak, 2008, and outcomes of epidemiologic investigation and clinical study. HEV, hepatitis E; Ig, immunoglobulin.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wong DC, Purcell RH, Sreenivasan MA, Prasad SR, Pavri KM. Epidemic and endemic hepatitis in India: evidence for a non-A, non-B hepatitis virus aetiology. Lancet. 1980;2:876–9. 10.1016/S0140-6736(80)92045-0 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Khuroo MS. Study of an epidemic of non-A, non-B hepatitis. Possibility of another human hepatitis virus distinct from post-transfusion non-A, non-B type. Am J Med. 1980;68:818–24. 10.1016/0002-9343(80)90200-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Panda SK, Thakral D, Rehamn S. Hepatitis E virus. Rev Med Virol. 2007;17:151–80. 10.1002/rmv.522 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Pelosi E, Clarke I. Hepatitis E: a complex and global disease. Emerg Health Threats J. 2008;1:e8 [cited 2009 Sep 7]. Available from http://www.eht-forum.org/ehtj/journal/v1/pdf/ehtj08008a.pdf 10.313/ehtj.0.008 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lewis HC, Boisson S, Ijaz S, Hewitt K, Ngui SL, Boxall E, et al. Hepatitis E in England and Wales. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14:165–7. 10.3201/eid1401.070307 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms