Hepatitis E virus in pork liver sausage, France

Abstract

We investigated viability of hepatitis E virus (HEV) identified in contaminated pork liver sausages obtained from France. HEV replication was demonstrated in 1 of 4 samples by using a 3-dimensional cell culture system. The risk for human infection with HEV by consumption of these sausages should be considered to be high.

Figure 1

Cycle threshold (C_t) values detected by real-time reverse transcription PCR for hepatitis E virus–positive supernatant of 3D cells infected with homogenate of pork sausages from France. Diamonds indicate testing of sausage A in the United Kingdom; squares indicate testing of sausage A in the Netherlands; triangles indicate testing of progeny of sausage A in the United Kingdom.

Figure 2

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) particles in the cell culture supernatant of pork liver sausage sample A, collected at 33 dpi. A) Transmission electron micrograph of negatively stained HEV particles ≈33 and 34 nm (arrowheads). Scale bar indicates 200 nm. B–D) Hepatitis E virions ≈28 (B), 33 (C), or 32 (D) nm in diameter, identified by using an HEV genotype 3–specific rabbit hyperimmune serum and a gold-labeled secondary antibody. Arrows show bound gold particles. Scale bars indicate 50 nm.