Presence of Hepatitis E Virus in a RED Deer (Cervus elaphus) Population in Central Italy

Abstract

Hepatitis E is an acute human disease caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV). In addition to humans, HEV has been detected in several animal species and is recognized as a zoonotic pathogen. Pigs, wild boar and deer can be reservoir. In this study, we evaluated HEV prevalence in a free-living red deer (Cervus elaphus) population in central Italy by detecting virus-specific antibodies and RNA in sera. A total of 35 of 251 red deer sera were positive for anti-HEV IgG. HEV RNA was detected in 10 of 91 sera examined. Two genomic fragments targeted by diagnostic PCRs in the capsid region were sequenced, both matching with genotype 3 HEV. Overall results confirmed the occurrence of HEV infection in deer also in Italy.

Detection of hepatitis E virus RNA in raw sausages and liver sausages from retail in Germany using an optimized method

“…Furthermore, mainly pork products containing liver were analyzed. The reported incidence of HEV RNA in pork liver sausages at retail level ranged from 4% to 18% in Spain, UK, France and Italy (Di Bartolo et al, 2012Bartolo et al, , 2015Martin-Latil et al, 2014). In our study, high HEV genome detection rates of 22% in liver sausages from Germany were obtained.…”

Hepatitis E Virus in Wild Boars and Spillover Infection in Red and Roe Deer, Germany, 2013–2015

“…Data about HEV infection in wild ruminants in Europe are rare, but some reports have demonstrated HEV infection in several deer species ( 12 , 13 ). Neumann et al ( 14 ) reported serologic and molecular evidence for HEV infection of the indigenous deer species in Germany.…”

Molecular detection and phylogenetic analysis of hepatitis E virus strains circulating in wild boars in south-central Italy

“…The RT–PCR and nested PCR were conducted according to the manufacturer's instructions, using an annealing temperature of 55°C. The 348‐bp amplicons, amplified from within open reading frame 2 (ORF2), were sequenced and analysed as previously described (Amoroso et al., ; Di Bartolo et al., ). Nucleotide sequence similarity was analysed with the BLAST server (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/genbank/index.html).…”