High Prevalence and Genetic Heterogeneity of Genotype 3 Hepatitis E Virus in Wild Boar in Umbria, Central Italy.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an important human pathogen and, in developed countries, most human infections are due to a zoonotic cycle, mainly maintained by domestic and wild suids. In European countries several genotype 3 strains have been found to circulate in human population and animal reservoirs, with human infections being related mostly to pork or wild boar meat consumption. In this study, we surveyed HEV circulation in wild boar in Umbria (Italy) during the 2021-2022 hunting seasons, using a stratified sampling. Liver samples were tested for HEV presence by real-time RT-qPCR. Positive samples were characterized by nested RT-PCR followed by sequencing of partial region of the capsid gene. Overall, 78 out of 179 wild boar liver samples tested positive to HEV (43.6%), with viral load r

SUBMITTER: Beikpour F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12017113 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature