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Hepatitis E virus genotype 1f outbreak in Bangladesh, 2018
Author(s) -
Baki Abdullah A.,
Haque Warda,
Giti Susane,
Khan Arif A.,
Rahman Mohammad M.,
Jubaida Nishat,
Rahman Mustafizur
Publication year - 2021
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.26739
Subject(s) - outbreak , hepatitis e virus , genotyping , genotype , virology , hepatitis a , feces , hepatitis a virus , virus , biology , environmental health , medicine , hepatitis , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , biochemistry
Abstract Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a significant public health issue in many developing countries, causing waterborne outbreaks as well as sporadic hepatitis. We report here an outbreak of HEV genotype 1f infection during April–May 2018 among people living at Halisohor, a low land in the southern part of Chottogram District of Bangladesh. A total of 933 patients were admitted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Chottogram, with symptoms of acute hepatitis. Among them, 550 patients were tested by ELISA for HEV‐specific (IgM) and all were positive. Genotyping, sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis based on ORF2 region revealed that the outbreak was caused by genotype 1f and the strains were closely related to the previously reported HEV strains that caused the outbreak in Bangladesh in 2010. The current outbreak was most likely linked with water supply as fecal contamination in water was evident and could be prevented by ensuring access to safe drinking water.