Previous Article | Next Article ![]()
Journal of Clinical Microbiology, December 1999, p. 3828-3834, Vol. 37, No. 12
Liver Research Unit,
Received 18 June 1999/Returned for modification 12 August
1999/Accepted 31 August 1999
Recently, we found that more than 10% of the cases of acute non-A,
non-B, non-C hepatitis in Taiwan were caused by a novel strain of
hepatitis E virus (HEV). Since none of these patients had a history of
travel to areas where HEV is endemic, the source of transmission
remains unclear. The recent discovery of a swine HEV in herd pigs in
the United States has led us to speculate that HEV may also circulate
in herd pigs in Taiwan and may serve as a reservoir for HEV in Taiwan.
Of 275 herd pigs obtained from 10 pig farms in Taiwan, 102 (37%) were
seropositive for serum anti-HEV immunoglobulin G (IgG). A 185-bp
genomic sequence within the ORF-2 of the HEV genome was amplified and
cloned from serum samples of an anti-HEV positive pig and subsequently
from serum samples of a patient with acute hepatitis E. Sequence
comparison revealed that the swine and human isolates of HEV share
97.3% identity. Phylogenetic analyses further showed that the Taiwan swine and human isolates of HEV form a distinct branch divergent from
all other known strains of HEV, including the U.S. swine strain. To
examine the potential risk of cross-species transmission of swine HEV
to humans, the seroprevalences of anti-HEV IgG in 30 swine handlers, 20 pork dealers, and 50 control subjects were assessed and were found to
be 26.7, 15, and 8%, respectively (for swine handlers versus controls,
P = 0.048). Our findings may help provide an
understanding of the modes of HEV transmission and may also raise
potential public health concerns for HEV zoonosis.
0095-1137/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Identity of a Novel Swine Hepatitis E Virus in
Taiwan Forming a Monophyletic Group with Taiwan Isolates of Human
Hepatitis E Virus

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Liver Research
Unit, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 199 Tung Hua North Rd., Taipei, Taiwan 155. Phone: 886-3-3281200, ext. 8107. Fax: 886-3-3272236 and
886-3-3282824. E-mail: siming{at}adm.cgmh.com.tw.
Present address: Department of Biomedical Sciences and
Pathobiology, Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA
24061-0342.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. | Clin. Microbiol. Rev. |
|---|---|
| Clin. Vaccine Immunol. | ALL ASM JOURNALS |
|---|