.
For years we have been campaigning publicly for Britain's
pigs to be tested for Hepatitis E and for the results to be released
to the public
We know that we have been losing pig farmers to Hepatitis E.
Britain's corrupt vetocracy has farmers' blood on its hands.
Full report here
Widespread distribution of hepatitis E virus in Spanish pig herds
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a serious health problem in
developing countries and is also increasingly reported in
industrialized regions. HEV is considered a zoonotic agent and strains
isolated from swine and human sources are genetically similar.
Thus, HEV is of increasing importance to both public and animal
health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the distribution
of HEV in a large population of pigs from herds located in different
autonomous regions throughout Spain.
Results: The presence of anti-HEV IgG antibodies was analyzed in 1141
swine serum samples (corresponding to 381 pigs younger than 6 months
and 760 pigs older than 6 months) collected from 85 herds.
Herds were located in 6 provinces in 4 autonomous regions throughout
Spain. At least one pig tested positive for anti-HEV IgG in over 80%
of herds.
Of individual pigs, 20.4% (233/1141) were positive for anti-HEV IgG,
with the prevalence being higher in adult pigs than in those under 6
months (30.2% vs. 15.5%).
A subset of serum samples taken at 2- to 5-week intervals showed that
seroprevalence dropped between 3 and 11 weeks of age, and then rose
significantly by the 15th week. Pigs were also examined for the
presence of HEV-RNA by RT-PCR.
Of pigs tested for the presence of HEV-RNA 18.8% (64/341) were
positive, with at least one pig in almost half of the herds testing
positive. HEV-RNA amplicons from several positive pigs were sequenced
and all were of genotype 3.
Conclusions: HEV was found to be widely distributed among swine farms
across Spain, with the prevalence being highest among animals older
than 6 months.
These results indicate that HEV infection either is or is likely to
become endemic in the Spanish swine population.
Author: Nereida Jimenez de OyaIgnacio de BlasAna-Belen BlazquezMiguel
Martin-AcebesNabil HalaihelOlivia GironesJuan-Carlos SaizEstela
Escribano-Romero
Credits/Source: BMC Research Notes 2011, 4:412
