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. 2011;6(8):e22673.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0022673. Epub 2011 Aug 1.

First isolation of hepatitis E virus genotype 4 in Europe through swine surveillance in the Netherlands and Belgium

Renate W Hakze-van der Honing  1 , Els van Coillie, Adriaan F G Antonis, Wim H M van der Poel
Affiliations

First isolation of hepatitis E virus genotype 4 in Europe through swine surveillance in the Netherlands and Belgium

Renate W Hakze-van der Honing et al. PLoS One. 2011.

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotypes 3 and 4 are a cause of human hepatitis and swine are considered the main reservoir. To study the HEV prevalence and characterize circulating HEV strains, fecal samples from swine in the Netherlands and Belgium were tested by RT-PCR. HEV prevalence in swine was 7-15%. The Dutch strains were characterized as genotype 3, subgroups 3a, 3c and 3f, closely related to sequences found in humans and swine earlier. The HEV strains found in Belgium belonged to genotypes 3f and 4b. The HEV genotype 4 strain was the first ever reported in swine in Europe and an experimental infection in pigs was performed to isolate the virus. The genotype 4 strain readily infected piglets and caused fever and virus shedding. Since HEV4 infections have been reported to run a more severe clinical course in humans this observation may have public health implications.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Phylogenetic tree of detected HEV sequences related to HEV sequences of humans and swine reported in literature.
Analyses based on a 148 nt fragment of the ORF2 region of HEV. A) all detected HEV sequences B) genotype 4 HEV (GenBank accession HQ842716–HQ842731).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Phylogenetic tree of the HEV genotype 4 strains isolated in this study, related to HEV genotype 4 sequences of humans and swine reported in literature.
Analyses based on a 887 nt fragment of the ORF1 region of HEV (GenBank accession HQ842716–HQ842731).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Swine body temperatures related to baseline values in experimentally (i.v) infected (nrs 4392 and 4393) and sentinel piglets (nr 4394).
The average of the first 3 measurements before inoculation was taken as the baseline value.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Alanine transferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) values in serum.
a. ALT values in serum of experimentally HEV Gt4 infected piglets (nrs. 4392 and 4393) and sentinel piglet (4394). b. AST values in serum of experimentally HEV Gt4 infected piglets (nrs. 4392 and 4393) and sentinel piglet (4394).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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