Premium
Hepatitis E virus genotype 3f in pigs in New Caledonia
Author(s) -
Kaba M,
Davoust B,
Cabre O,
Colson P
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2011.00848.x
Subject(s) - hepatitis e virus , zoonosis , genotype , virology , biology , phylogenetic tree , feces , virus , veterinary medicine , hepatitis e , polymerase chain reaction , medicine , microbiology and biotechnology , gene , genetics
Background Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is highly prevalent in farm pigs worldwide and an increasing body of data from industrialised countries suggests that it is an agent of a porcine zoonosis. Methods We used in‐house real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction to study HEV infection in 4–26‐week‐old pigs on a pig farm in New Caledonia, Oceania, for which no data are available. Results HEV RNA was detected in faeces from 6 of 92 (6.5%) pigs tested and all were 9–16 weeks old. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the HEV open reading frame 1 and 2 sequences recovered in this study formed a single cluster among HEV genotype 3 subtype f. Conclusions Our work shows for the first time that pigs are a reservoir for HEV in New Caledonia. Further studies are needed to assess the prevalence and phylogenetic relationships of HEV in pigs and humans in this French overseas collectivity.