Seroprevalence of hepatitis E virus infection in domestic pigs in the Federal District, Brazil

• Main Authors: L.F.L.S. Vilanova, L.L. Rigueira, S. Perecmanis
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
• Series: Arquivo Brasileiro de Medicina Veterinária e Zootecnia
• Subjects: hepatite E; suínos; Distrito Federal; Brasil
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-09352018000200469&lng=en&tlng=en

ABSTRACT Hepatitis E is caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV) which is currently known to be a zoonotic pathogen transmitted by pigs. In Brazil, there is no information about the circulation of HEV in the swine herd of the Federal District. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was performed with sera from 449 domestic pigs, provided by the Secretary of Agriculture of the Federal District. Blood samples were collected between June and September 2014. A commercially available ELISA kit was used for the detection of IgG antibodies. High seroprevalence of antibodies to HEV was found, since 304 animals showed anti-HEV positive reactions (67.7%; 95% CI = 63.2%, 71.9%). The seropositivity presented no difference by gender or age. The results suggest that HEV circulates among domestic pigs in the Federal District and it can serve as a warning to the local public health system due to their possible involvement in human infections.