Zoonotic rat hepatitis E virus infection in pigs: farm prevalence and public health relevance.

IF 3 2区农林科学 Q1 VETERINARY SCIENCES

Porcine Health Management Pub Date : 2025-06-11 DOI:10.1186/s40813-025-00450-9

Javier Caballero-Gómez, Ignacio García-Bocanegra, David Cano-Terriza, María Casares-Jiménez, Saúl Jiménez-Ruiz, María A Risalde, Lucía Ríos-Muñoz, Antonio Rivero-Juárez, Antonio Rivero

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Abstract

Rat hepatitis E virus (ratHEV) is an emerging zoonotic pathogen causing acute and chronic hepatitis, with zoonotic transmission pathways that remain unclear. While rats are its primary reservoir, recent experimental studies revealed that pigs are susceptible to ratHEV infection. To better understand its epidemiology, we assessed the herd prevalence of ratHEV in 64 extensively managed pig farms in southwestern Spain. Serum samples from 1,861 animals were pooled and analyzed using a multiplex qPCR. Viral RNA was detected in 9 (1.9%) of the 466 analyzed pools, with a herd prevalence of 10.9% (7/64; 95%CI: 5.4-20.9). Positive farms were distributed across the study area, and ratHEV circulation was limited to fattening farms (17.5%) (P = 0.007). These findings suggest pigs could act as intermediate hosts between rats and humans, posing a public health risk. Enhanced surveillance in pig farms and pork products is crucial to assess zoonotic transmission risks.

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猪人畜共患大鼠戊型肝炎病毒感染：农场流行率和公共卫生相关性

大鼠戊型肝炎病毒（ratHEV）是一种新出现的引起急性和慢性肝炎的人畜共患病原体，其人畜共患传播途径尚不清楚。虽然大鼠是其主要宿主，但最近的实验研究表明，猪易受甲型h1n1流感病毒感染。为了更好地了解其流行病学，我们评估了西班牙西南部64个广泛管理的养猪场的猪群中ratHEV的流行情况。收集1861只动物的血清样本，使用多重qPCR进行分析。在466个分析池中，有9个（1.9%）检测到病毒RNA，群体患病率为10.9% (7/64；95%置信区间:5.4—-20.9)。阳性猪场分布在整个研究区，ratHEV循环仅限于育肥场（17.5%）（P = 0.007）。这些发现表明，猪可以作为大鼠和人类之间的中间宿主，构成公共卫生风险。加强对猪场和猪肉产品的监测对于评估人畜共患病传播风险至关重要。

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来源期刊

Porcine Health Management Veterinary-Food Animals

CiteScore

5.40

自引率

5.90%

发文量

审稿时长

14 weeks

期刊介绍： Porcine Health Management (PHM) is an open access peer-reviewed journal that aims to publish relevant, novel and revised information regarding all aspects of swine health medicine and production.