Abstract
Simple SummaryDomestic and wild pigs are the main Hepatitis E virus (HEV) zoonotic reservoirs. Identifying HEV-positive pig farms is important to implement surveillance programs for this emerging zoonotic agent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of serosanguineous fluids obtained as part of castration practice (processing fluids (PFs)) to detect anti-HEV antibodies. Ninety-five paired serum and PF samples were collected from newborn piglets of 29 different litters and tested with a commercial ELISA kit. A significant positive correlation (Spearman’s rho: 0.600; p < 0.01) was found between the signal-to-cutoff (S/Co) ratio of anti-HEV antibodies in serum and PF samples. In 26 out of 29 litters (89.7%), there was at least one positive piglet in the serum. Sixteen litters out of 29 (55.2%) were also positive in PFs. The detection of anti-HEV maternal-derived antibodies in PFs confirms a past exposure of sows to the virus. PF may represent a rapid, noninvasive and economical tool to identify HEV-positive farms.Identifying Hepatitis E virus (HEV)-positive pig farms is important to implement surveillance programs for this emerging zoonotic agent. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of serosanguineous fluids obtained as part of castration practice (processing fluids (PFs)) to detect anti-HEV antibodies in newborn piglets. Ninety-five paired serum and PF samples were collected from piglets of 29 different litters and tested with a commercial ELISA kit. A significant positive correlation (Spearman’s rho: 0.600; p < 0.01) was found between anti-HEV antibodies in serum and PF samples. In 26 out of 29 litters (89.7%), there was at least one positive piglet in the serum. Sixteen litters out of 29 (55.2%) were also positive in PFs. To simulate the use of PF as pooled samples, the limit of detection of the ELISA was assessed mixing the PF sample with strong, medium, medium-weak and weak ELISA titres with 3, 4, 5 and 6 negative PF samples. Our results suggest that it is still possible to identify a positive PF pool when at least one individual PF sample with medium or strong antibody levels is mixed with 5 or 6 individual negative PF samples. The detection of anti-HEV maternal-derived antibodies in PF confirms a past exposure of sows to the virus. PF may represent a rapid, noninvasive and economical tool to identify HEV-positive farms.
Highlights
The Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of Hepatitis E in humans and animals [1]
Processing fluid collection used to screen herds for pig pathogens such as HEV allows for more litters and more pigs to be sampled across farrowing rooms, reducing the handling associated with the blood draw and diagnostic costs compared to multiple individual pig serum samples [25]
Fecal shedding of HEV is limited in time and largely depends on the age of the animals limiting the use of direct diagnostic methods to evaluate the HEV status in pig farms
Summary
The Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the causative agent of Hepatitis E in humans and animals [1]. HEV is a quasi-enveloped (in blood) or non-enveloped (in feces) single-stranded RNA virus classified in the family Hepeviridae and the genus Orthohepevirus [2]. Orthohepevirus A species includes 8 genotypes (HEV-1 to HEV-8) infecting both humans and other mammalians. The recent definition of HEV subtype reference strains established a set of whole genome reference sequences for the HEV-1 to HEV-8 subtypes of this genus [3,4]. HEV-1 to HEV-4 have been detected in Europe. HEV-1 and HEV-2 infect only humans, while HEV-3 and HEV-4 are zoonotic and infect both humans and mammalians
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