Prevalence of hepatitis E virus among swine in China from 2010 to 2019: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic pathogen that has spread worldwide. The HEV reservoir associated with livestock hepatitis E poses a huge threat to public health. Awareness of the prevalence and spatial distribution of livestock hepatitis E is valuable to prevent and control diseases caused by HEV, especially human hepatitis E infection. Currently, swine, including pigs (Sus scrofa), are recognized as the major reservoir of HEV. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the pooled prevalence of HEV among swine in China. A total of 71 published papers on HEV infection in swine in China (including data from 49,523 animals) from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2019 met the standard after searching five databases including the Technology Periodical Database, the Wan Fang Database, the China National Knowledge Infrastructure, PubMed, and ScienceDirect. A random effects model was used to calculate the pooled prevalence of HEV in swine. The results showed that the seroprevalence was 48.0% (95% confidence interval (CI) 39.6–56.9) and the prevalence of HEV RNA was 14.4% (95% CI 10.7–18.5). The estimated overall prevalence was 34.1% (95% CI 27.2–41.4). Central China (68.0%, 95% CI 42.2–89.1) had a significantly higher prevalence than other regions. In the publication year subgroup, the prevalence in 2016 or later (27.2%, 95% CI 19.3–36.0) was significantly lower than that in 2011 or earlier (49.0%, 95% CI 36.2–61.8). The prevalence of IgG (42.9%, 95% CI 31.7–54.6) was significantly higher than that of IgM (4.9%, 95% CI 1.6–9.7). Suckling piglets (15.6%, 95% CI 6.6–27.1) had a lower prevalence compared with that in other age groups. In all sample types, body fluids showed the highest prevalence (50.5%, 95% CI 41.7–59.3). Moreover, the pooled prevalence of HEV in boars was higher than that in sows (35.4% > 17.3%). The analysis suggested that HEV infection is common among swine in China. Further strengthening HEV testing in boars, controlling environmental pollution, and reducing the mixed feeding of different stages could contribute to reducing HEV infection in pigs in China and the risk of porcine HEV infection in humans.