RESUMO
Four major genotypes of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) have been documented worldwide (1-4) with genotypes 1 and 2 found in human in Sub-Saharan Africa. Human Hepatitis cases due to HEV genotype 3 and 4 are zoonotic with various animal identified as possible reservoirs. Recently, HEV genotype 3 was found in pigs and human beings in West Africa, which may change the epidemic in human. Here, we assessed the prevalence of HEV antibodies in various domestic and wild mammalians in Burkina Faso. Random sampling was performed between 2015 and 2017 to collect serum from 100 rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), 19 hares (Lepus africana), 72 cattle (Bos taurus), 75 sheep (Ovis aries) and 81 goats (Capra aegagrus) in three provinces in Burkina Faso. A multi-species ELISA was performed on serum samples from 328 domestic animals and 19 hunting hares. HEV total antibodies were identified in 121 out of 347 specimens (34.9% CI95% [29.9-39.9]). Sera from rabbits (60% CI95% [50.4-69.6]), hares (52.6% CI95% [30.2-75.1]), cattle (26.4% CI95% [16.2-36.6]), sheep (12.0% CI95% [4.6-19.4]), and goats (28.4% CI95% [18.6-38.2]) tested positive for antibodies anti-HEV. In this study we evidence presence of HEV antibodies in various mammalians and highlight the importance of these species in the epidemiology of HEV infection in Burkina Faso.
RESUMO
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a major public health concern in Sub-Saharan Africa. Early research in Ivory Coast showed that chronic hepatitis B and aflatoxin B1 exposure were the two most important etiological agents of HCC in the country but, surprisingly, no survey analyzing HCC etiologies has been conducted since decades. In a preliminary report, we characterized for hepatitis B and C markers 30 consecutive cases of HCC recruited from Abidjan hospitals between June 2011 and December 2012. Nutritional and lifestyle features of patients were analyzed as well. The mean age of the patients was 53 ± 15 years with a sex ratio (M:F = 2.7). HBsAg was the most frequent viral marker in the series (63 %). All HBV isolates belonged to genotype E. With regards to regional standard, anti-HCV reached a very high level (47 %) in the present series. Hepatitis C was more frequent among patients living outside Abidjan (83 vs 23 %, P = 0.009). Patients living in Abidjan were significantly younger than individual living elsewhere in the country (48 ± 14 vs 60 ± 16 years old, P = 0.038) reflecting a possible role for local environmental pollution in tumor progression. Finally, we observed that patients born in Mandé/Gur-speaking regions (North) were younger (48 ± 14 vs 59 ± 15, P = 0.05) and consumed maize more frequently (80 vs 26 %, P = 0.009) than other patients. Interestingly, maize consumption was associated with a trend for aminotransferases elevation (mean = 1.7-1.8 fold, P = 0.06) suggesting a direct hepatic toxicity of this staple food in Ivory Coast. In conclusion, our work indicates that HCC epidemiology underwent recently major drifts in Ivory Coast.
