ABSTRACT
Active hepatitis E virus (HEV) infections in two Brazilian swine herds were investigated. In study 1, 26 piglets born to five anti-HEV positive sows were monitored from birth to post-partum week 22. Serum samples were screened for the detection of anti-HEV antibodies and a nested RT-PCR used to examine the HEV genome. Passive transfer of immunity was confirmed. At week 22, 23/26 (88.4%) of the piglets had seroconverted. Genome amplification was achieved in a feces pool from one holding pen and in one serum sample, both from 13-week-old animals. Histology was suggestive of a potential HEV infection. In the second study, 47 piglets born to six anti-HEV-positive sows were monitored after weaning. Seroconversion was determined in eight animals at 6-8 weeks of age. HEV RNA was detected in two pools from a holding pen for 12-16-week-old animals. Brazilian isolates were classified as genotype 3. This is the first molecular evidence of HEV infection in Brazilian pig herds.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Viral/blood , Hepatitis E virus/isolation & purification , Hepatitis E/veterinary , RNA, Viral/analysis , Swine Diseases/epidemiology , Animals , Animals, Newborn , Brazil/epidemiology , Disease Reservoirs/veterinary , Disease Reservoirs/virology , Female , Gene Amplification , Genotype , Hepatitis E/epidemiology , Hepatitis E/transmission , Hepatitis E/virology , Hepatitis E virus/classification , Hepatitis E virus/genetics , Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical/veterinary , Male , Molecular Epidemiology , Phylogeny , Pregnancy , Public Health , Retrospective Studies , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Swine , Swine Diseases/transmission , Swine Diseases/virology , ZoonosesABSTRACT
AIM: To evaluate the prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients that followed up in our hospital and try to identify the possible risk factors involved in this infection transmission. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study for which 176 patients were selected according to their arrival for the medical interview. All these patients had already IBD diagnosis. The patient was interviewed and a questionnaire was filled out. RESULTS: In the group of 176 patients whom we examined, we found that 17% (30) were anti-HBc positive. Out of 30 patients with positive anti-HBc, 2.3% (4) had positive HBsAg and negative HBV-DNA. In an attempt to identify the possible HBV infection transmission risk factors in IBD patients, it was observed that 117 patients had been submitted to some kind of surgical procedure, but only 24 patients had positive anti-HBc (P = 0.085). It was also observed that surgery to treat IBD complications was not a risk factor for HBV infection transmission, since we did not get a statically significant P value. However, IBD patients that have been submitted to surgery to treat IBD complications received more blood transfusions then patients submitted to other surgical interventions (P = 0.015). CONCLUSION: There was a high incidence of positive anti-HBc (17%) and positive HBsAg (2.3%) in IBD patient when compared with the overall population (7.9%).
