High prevalence of acute hepatitis E virus infection in pigs in Dutch slaughterhouses

Hepatitis E is caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV), one of the causes of acute viral hepatitis. Domestic pigs are considered as the main reservoir of HEV-3. The recently reported high prevalence of HEV in liver- and meat products on the Dutch market warranted a cross-sectional prevalence study on HEV infection among 5–6 months old pigs slaughtered in the Netherlands (n = 250). For this, liver, caecum content and blood samples were analyzed for the presence of genomic HEV RNA by RT-PCR. In addition, a serological test was performed to detect HEV IgG. Background information was retrieved on the co... Mehr ...