Hepatitis E virus in liver and bile samples from slaughtered pigs of Brazil

• Main Authors: Noemi Rovaris Gardinali, Aline Fernandes Barry, Rodrigo Alejandro Arellano Otonel, Alice Fernandes Alfieri, Amauri Alcindo Alfieri
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Ministério da Saúde 2012-11-01
• Series: Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz.
• Subjects: hepatitis E virus; swine; slaughterhouse
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0074-02762012000700016&lng=en&tlng=en

The objective of this study was to detect and identify hepatitis E virus (HEV) strains in liver and bile samples from slaughtered pigs in the state of Paraná, Brazil. Liver and bile samples were collected from 118 asymptomatic adult pigs at a slaughterhouse in a major Brazilian pork production area. The samples were assayed using a nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction protocol with primer sets targeting open reading frames (ORF)1 and 2 of the HEV genome. HEV RNA was detected in two (1.7%) liver samples and one (0.84%) bile sample using both primers sets. The HEV strains were classified as genotype 3b on the basis of their nucleotide sequences. These data suggest that healthy pigs may be a source of HEV infection for consumers of pig liver and slaughterhouse workers in Brazil.