Seroprevalence study in forestry workers from eastern Germany using novel genotype 3- and rat hepatitis E virus-specific immunoglobulin G ELISAs

Dremsek, Paul; Wenzel, Jürgen J.; Johne, Reimar; Ziller, Mario; Hofmann, Jörg; Groschup, Martin H.; Werdermann, Sandra; Mohn, Ulrich; Dorn, Silvia; Motz, Manfred; Mertens, Marc; Jilg, Wolfgang; Ulrich, Rainer G.

doi:10.1007/s00430-011-0221-2

Cited by 144 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…The prevalence (15%) of anti-HEV IgG-positive individuals found among Serbian blood donors in the present study is similar to that found previously in an earlier pilot study (16.9%) conducted in the country [21], as well as in some other European countries and in the United States [6,[24][25][26]. However, lower prevalence rates (1% to 5%) have also being described in northern France, Italy and Switzerland [17,27,28], and even an outstanding rate of 52.2% has been recently reported in blood donors from south-western France [29].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies in Serbian blood donors

Lupulović

Oya

Vojvodic³

et al. 2014

J Infect Dev Ctries

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Introduction: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is rarely reported in industrialized countries, but recent studies have revealed quite variable seroprevalence rates among European populations, including blood donors. In Serbia, very limited data about HEV seroprevalence are available. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG antibodies and HEV RNA in the sera of volunteer blood donors in Serbia. Methodology: Serum samples from 200 volunteer blood donors were tested for the presence of anti-HEV IgG by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using ORF-2 HEV genotype 3 recombinant proteins as antigen, and for the presence of HEV RNA by nested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results: In total, 15% of the volunteer blood donors were seropositive. The prevalence increased with age; 21.5%, 14.2%, and 5.4% HEV seroprevalence rates were found in individuals older than 51 years, between 31 and 50 years, and in those younger than 30 years of age, respectively. However, no HEV RNA was detected in any of the individuals analyzed. Conclusions: The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG among blood donors as representatives of the general population is quite high in Serbia compared to data from many European countries. One of the reasons for this could be the high prevalence of HEV among Serbian pigs and the traditional consumption of piglet meat in the country. The relatively high HEV seroprevalence found among Serbian blood donors indicates the need for further investigation.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies in Serbian blood donors

Lupulović

Oya

Vojvodic³

et al. 2014

J Infect Dev Ctries

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“…Forestry workers have already been identified to be at risk of HEV infection (9), but the present study suggests for the first time that among them, woodcutters are at a particularly high risk of infection. Wild boar stools may provide an additional source of HEV infection for people with close contact with the forest environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 58%

“…Multivariate analysis of the data indicated that HEV prevalence varied according to occupational activity and geographical location. Differences in HEV seroprevalence between rural and urban areas have been described (8,32), the existence of regional differences has previously been reported (26,42), and field workers in Ger- many and the United States have been identified as being at risk (9,15). In addition, it should be noted that variations in seroprevalence in different French regions did not correlate with the pig population in these regions (Table 5) but correlated with the regional variations in the frequency of car accidents due to wild boars (per 1,000 km 2 ), an indirect means to evaluate the level of contacts between humans and wild boars.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

High Hepatitis E Virus Seroprevalence in Forestry Workers and in Wild Boars in France

et al. 2012

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f Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a fecally and orally transmitted human pathogen of worldwide distribution. In industrial countries, HEV is observed in an increasing number of autochthonous cases and is considered to be an emerging pathogen. A growing body of evidence suggests that HEV is a zoonotic disease, and pig handlers and pig veterinarians have been reported to be high-risk groups for HEV infection. The aims of the present study were to establish the prevalence of anti-HEV in wild boars in France and to identify whether forestry workers are at a higher risk of HEV infection. Three different anti-HEV tests were used to compare their effectiveness in detecting anti-HEV in the general population. The most sensitive test was then used to investigate HEV seroprevalence in 593 forestry workers and 421 wild boars. Anti-HEV was detected in 31% of the forestry workers and 14% of the wild boars. Detection of anti-HEV in humans was correlated with age, geographical location, and occupational activity and in wild boars was correlated with geographical location. HEV infection is frequent in woodcutters in France, and it varies geographically. Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to elucidate the transmission route and the exact virus reservoirs.H epatitis E virus (HEV) is a nonenveloped, single-strand RNA virus that has been classified as the prototype and sole member in the Hepevirus genus of the Hepeviridae family (29). The viral genome of about 7.2 kb contains 3 partially overlapping open reading frames (ORFs). ORF1 encodes nonstructural viral proteins, ORF2 encodes the capsid protein, and ORF3 encodes a small multifunctional protein. Four major HEV genotypes belonging to a single serotype have been identified (11). Genotype 1 is detected in most cases of human HEV disease (waterborne epidemics and sporadic cases), genotype 2 is rare and has been found in several epidemics in Mexico and central Africa, and genotypes 3 and 4 are detected in swine and in autochthonous HEV infections in industrial countries (5,19,20,30,34,39,45,49).HEV is a significant fecally and orally transmitted human pathogen of worldwide distribution, causing self-limited disease with mortality rates of 1 to 3% in the general population and up to 20 to 25% in pregnant women. In developing countries, HEV outbreaks have been attributed to feces-contaminated water supplies. In industrial countries, HEV is observed in travelers returning from countries where HEV is endemic and in an increasing number of individuals with no history of traveling to regions where HEV is endemic, particularly in France (5, 6, 20). Molecular analysis of HEV strains has revealed that the strains identified in nonimported HEV cases form a group of genetically divergent isolates compared to HEV strains in regions where HEV is endemic (31, 39). The modes of transmission of sporadic nonimported cases and of autochthonous cases have rarely been determined, with the exception of zoonotic food-borne transmission from pigs, wild boars, and wild deer (19,25,40,41,4...

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“…Experimental infections of rhesus monkeys and pigs with rat HEV did not result in signs of virus replication Purcell et al, 2011). Serological analysis of human and porcine sera identified only a few sera showing antibodies with higher reactivity to rat HEV as compared with human HEV, indicating a very rare transmission of rat HEV-related viruses (Dremsek et al, 2012;Krumbholz et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Construction and characterization of an infectious cDNA clone of rat hepatitis E virus

Yang

Yoshizaki

et al. 2015

Journal of General Virology

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Rat hepatitis E virus (HEV) is related to human HEV and has been detected in wild rats worldwide. Here, the complete genome of rat HEV strain R63/DEU/2009 was cloned downstream of the T7 RNA polymerase promoter and capped genomic RNA generated by in vitro transcription was injected into nude rats. Rat HEV RNA could be detected in serum and faeces of rats injected intrahepatically, but not in those injected intravenously. Rat HEV RNA-positive faecal suspension was intravenously inoculated into nude rats and Wistar rats leading to rat HEV RNA detection in serum and faeces of nude rats, and to seroconversion in Wistar rats. In addition, rat HEV was isolated in PLC/PRF/5 cells from the rat HEV RNA-positive faecal suspension of nude rats and then passaged. The cell culture supernatant was infectious for nude rats. Genome analysis identified nine point mutations of the cell-culture-passaged virus in comparison with the originally cloned rat HEV genome. The results indicated that infectious rat HEV could be generated from the cDNA clone. As rats are widely used and well-characterized laboratory animals, studies on genetically engineered rat HEV may provide novel insights into organ tropism, replication and excretion kinetics as well as immunological changes induced by hepeviruses.

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Seroprevalence study in forestry workers from eastern Germany using novel genotype 3- and rat hepatitis E virus-specific immunoglobulin G ELISAs

Cited by 144 publications

References 61 publications

Prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies in Serbian blood donors

Prevalence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies in Serbian blood donors

High Hepatitis E Virus Seroprevalence in Forestry Workers and in Wild Boars in France

Construction and characterization of an infectious cDNA clone of rat hepatitis E virus

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