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Risk factors and sources of foodborne hepatitis E virus infection in the United States
Author(s) -
Cossaboom Caitlin M.,
Heffron Connie L.,
Cao Dianjun,
Yugo Danielle M.,
HoukMiles Alice E.,
Lindsay David S.,
Zajac Anne M.,
Bertke Andrea S.,
Elvinger François,
Meng XiangJin
Publication year - 2016
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.24497
Subject(s) - virology , hepatitis a virus , virus , hepatitis e virus , hepatitis c virus , environmental health , medicine , biology , genotype , gene , genetics
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an important human pathogen with pigs and other species serving as natural animal reservoirs. Ample evidence documents sporadic cases of hepatitis E acquired via consumption of undercooked meat. Chronic hepatitis E cases in immunosuppressed individuals are mostly caused by zoonotic HEV of swine origin. We report here the identification of genotype 3 HEV from non‐liver commercial pork from local grocery stores in southwest Virginia, and association of HEV seropositivity to the consumption of undercooked meat in healthy young adults at a university in the United States. These results raise concerns about foodborne HEV transmission in the United States. J. Med. Virol. 88:1641–1645, 2016 . © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.