Abstract
In Corsica, extensive pig breeding systems allow frequent interactions between wild boars and domestic pigs, which are suspected to act as reservoirs of several zoonotic diseases including hepatitis E virus (HEV). In this context, 370 sera and 166 liver samples were collected from phenotypically characterized as pure or hybrid wild boars, between 2009 and 2012. In addition, serum and liver from 208 domestic pigs belonging to 30 farms were collected at the abattoir during the end of 2013. Anti-HEV antibodies were detected in 26% (21%–31.6%) of the pure wild boar, 43.5% (31%–56.7%) of hybrid wild boar and 88% (82.6%–91.9%) of the domestic pig sera. In addition, HEV RNA was detected in five wild boars, three hybrid wild boars and two domestic pig livers tested. Our findings provide evidence that both domestic pig and wild boar (pure and hybrid) act as reservoirs of HEV in Corsica, representing an important zoonotic risk for Corsican hunters and farmers but also for the large population of consumers of raw pig liver specialties produced in Corsica. In addition, hybrid wild boars seem to play an important ecological role in the dissemination of HEV between domestic pig and wild boar populations, unnoticed to date, that deserves further investigation.
Highlights
In several industrialized countries, the zoonotic origin of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been demonstrated [1,2,3,4]
The phylogenetic analysis of the sequences amplified in both reservoirs was performed in parallel to this study and has shown that the two sequences of pure wild boar and domestic pig (Genbank accession number KT334196 and KT334197) shared 97.5% identity with a wild boar sequence (KT334191), suggesting that transmission between pure and hybrid forms of wild boar and domestic pigs occur in Corsica [42]
Hybrid wild boars seem to play an intermediate role in this dissemination of HEV and perhaps other pathogens between populations of domestic pigs and wild boars that requires further investigation
Summary
The zoonotic origin of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has been demonstrated [1,2,3,4]. The first confirmed cases of zoonotic transmission were described in Japan in the early 2000s, after consumption of infected raw deer meat (Cervus nippon) and undercooked wild boar meat [7]. Several documented cases of HEV infection after consumption of pig, wild boar or deer meat have been reported in Japan and in Europe [1,4,8]. In pig farms from continental France, a previous countrywide study had estimated a seroprevalence of 65% at farm level with higher values in the North-West of the country [9] where the Viruses 2016, 8, 236; doi:10.3390/v8080236 www.mdpi.com/journal/viruses. Grouped cases of hepatitis E have been described in France after consumption of a Corsican cured meat specialty known as “ficatelli” produced with pig livers from Corsica or continental France, and traditionally consumed raw or grilled [11,12]
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