Abstract
BackgroundHepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is one of the most common causes of acute liver diseases in humans worldwide. In developing countries, HEV is commonly associated with waterborne outbreaks. Conversely, in industrialized countries, HEV infection is often associated with travel to endemic regions or ingestion of contaminated animal products. Limited information on both, human and animal HEV infection in Mexico is available. As a consequence, the distribution of the virus in the country is largely unknown. Here, we assessed the seroprevalence of HEV among swine in different geographical regions in Mexico.MethodsSeroprevalence of anti-HEV antibodies in swine herds in Mexico was evaluated in a representative sample including 945 pig serum specimens from different regions of the country using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).ResultsThe overall prevalence of anti-HEV antibodies in swine was 59.4%. The northern region of Mexico exhibited the highest seroprevalence in the country (86.6%), while the central and southern regions in Mexico showed lower seroprevalence, 42.7% and 51.5%, respectively.ConclusionsIn Mexico, HEV seroprevalence in swine is high. Importantly, northern Mexico showed the highest seroprevalence in the country. Thus, further studies are required to identify the risk factors contributing to HEV transmission among pigs in the country. Assessment of HEV human infection in the context of viral transmission in swine is required to better understand the epidemiology of hepatitis E in Mexico.
Highlights
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is one of the most common causes of acute liver diseases in humans worldwide
A total of 945 samples were analyzed, 292 (30.8%) specimens were collected from the northern region of Mexico, and 332 sera from the southern (35.1%) and 321 central parts of Mexico (34%) and, when classified according to the production stage, a total of 299 samples corresponded to weaned production, 323 to fattening and 323 to reproducers animals (Table 1)
Based on the production stage, the chi- squared test showed no significant differences in positivity between the different production stages in the northern and central regions; in southern Mexico, a significant difference was observed in fattening swine compared to weaned and reproducer animals (p = 0.012)
Summary
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is one of the most common causes of acute liver diseases in humans worldwide. HEV is commonly associated with waterborne outbreaks. In industrialized countries, HEV infection is often associated with travel to endemic regions or ingestion of contaminated animal products. Human and animal HEV infection in Mexico is available. We assessed the seroprevalence of HEV among swine in different geographical regions in Mexico. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is an emerging disease of increasing importance. HEV affects approximately ∼20 million persons annually worldwide, causing ∼70,000 deaths. HEV is transmitted primarily by the fecal-oral route [1, 2]. And for reasons not completely understood, HEV infection can progress to fulminant hepatitis [7].
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