Prevalence of hepatitis E virus antibodies in workers occupationally exposed to swine in Portugal

The concept of zoonotic hepatitis E in industri alized countries has emerged with the discovery of swine strains of hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3, closely related to human HEV. Different routes of zoonotic HEV transmission have been recognized, including contact with infected pigs. Workers occupationally exposed to swine (WOES) have been considered a risk group for HEV nfec tion, but contradictory results have been reported. In the present study, we searched for anti-HEV IgG in WOES (butchers, slaughterhouse workers, veterinarians and pig farmers; n = 114) and in the general population (n = 804) in order to investigate the potential occupational risk of zoonotic HEV infection in this work group. A significantly higher (p = 0.008) anti-HEV IgG seroprevalence was found in WOES (30.7 %) when compared with the general popu lation (19.9 %). Multivariate analysis showed that having professions with exposure to pigs for more than 16.5 years was a risk factor for being positive for anti-HEV IgG (aOR of 5.4, 95 % CI 1.9–15.6, p = 0.002). To our knowledge, this is the first study on the prevalence of anti-HEV IgG in WOES in Portugal, also showing increased probability for infection in this group.

Keywords

HEV Genotype 3 Portugal Swine Occupational exposure

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/14219

Citation

Teixeira J, Mesquita JR, Pereira SS, Oliveira RM, Abreu-Silva J, Rodrigues A, Myrmel M, Stene-Johansen K, Øverbø J, Gonçalves G, Nascimento MS. Prevalence of hepatitis E virus antibodies in workers occupationally exposed to swine in Portugal. Med Microbiol Immunol. 2017 Feb;206(1):77-81. doi: 10.1007/s00430-016-0484-8