Publikationsdatenbank

High predictive power of meat juice serologyon the presence of Hepatitis E virus in slaughter pigs (2020)

Art

Zeitschriftenartikel / wissenschaftlicher Beitrag

Autoren

Dzierzon, Janine (WE 8)

Oswaldi, Verena (WE 8)

Merle, Roswitha (WE 16)

Langkabel, Nina (WE 8)

Meemken, Diana (WE 8)

Quelle

Foodborne pathogens and disease

Bandzählung: 17

Heftzählung: 11

Seiten: 687 – 692

ISSN: 1535-3141

Sprache

Englisch

Verweise

URL (Volltext): https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/fpd.2020.2797

DOI: 10.1089/fpd.2020.2797

Pubmed: 32412857

Kontakt

Institut für Veterinär-Epidemiologie und Biometrie

Königsweg 67
14163 Berlin
+49 30 838 56034
epi@vetmed.fu-berlin.de

Abstract / Zusammenfassung

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) as a zoonotic agent can be responsible for an acute hepatitis in humans, which is usually self-limiting. Progression toward a chronic stage is possible, especially in immunocompromised patients. In the past decade, the number of hepatitis E cases in humans in Germany has increased enormously to 3491 cases in 2018. Domestic pigs have been identified as a main animal reservoir and the consumption of raw and undercooked pork products, that is, livers or liver products, meat or meat products, is known as a potential risk of foodborne HEV infection. The aim of this study was to determine whether serological tests are appropriate to predict the occurrence of HEV in the liver and muscle of domestic pigs in Germany. In 2018, samples of meat juice, liver, and ham muscle were collected from 250 fattening pigs at an abattoir in North West Germany. Samples were analyzed for the presence of HEV antibodies using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay respectively for the presence of HEV RNA using real-time reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. In total, 62% (155/250) of the meat juice samples were positive for HEV antibodies at a single animal basis. At herd level, 72% (18/25) of the herds were seropositive. The HEV prevalence in the liver was 17.2% (43/250). Each positive liver sample originated from seropositive herds respectively from HEV seropositive pigs. This study demonstrates for the first time the significant correlation between a positive HEV serology and the occurrence of HEV RNA in the liver of slaughter pigs (χ2 = 31.83; p < 0.001), highlighting the significant predictive power of positive serological results on the occurrence of HEV RNA in the liver.