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Pet veterinarians have no increased risk of hepatitis E compared to the general population
Author(s) -
Mesquita J.R.,
ValenteGomes G.,
ConceiçãoNeto N.,
Nascimento M.S.J.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.23927
Subject(s) - hepatitis e virus , transmission (telecommunications) , virology , population , medicine , cats , hepatitis e , hepatitis , genotype , veterinary medicine , antibody , zoonosis , viral hepatitis , hepatitis c , environmental health , immunology , biology , biochemistry , gene , electrical engineering , engineering
The discovery of autochthonous hepatitis E in industrialized countries associated to genotype 3 has changed substantially the understanding about hepatitis E virus (HEV) circulation. In these countries transmission has been associated to the consumption and direct contact to swine, a well‐known reservoir for HEV. More animal reservoirs for HEV might exist since antibodies to HEV have been detected in other animal species, such as dogs and cats. Given the intimate contact between these pets and humans, the potential zoonotic HEV transmission from dogs and cats deserves to be explored. To address this issue, 493 sera from pet veterinarians (373) and matched general population (120) were tested for the presence of anti‐HEV IgG using a commercial ELISA. Antibodies to HEV were found in 9.9% veterinarians and 13.3% general population. No statistically significant difference was found between these two groups showing that pet veterinarians have no increased risk to hepatitis E compared to the general population. J. Med. Virol. 86:954–956, 2014 . © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.