Detection of HEV in naturally infected swine from central Argentina by an optimized HEV/MS2 duplex RT-qPCR

MARZIALI, FEDERICO; ACOSTA, JULIAN; BOLATTI, ELISA; MIRAZO, SANTIAGO; SKEJICH, PATRICIA; SILVA, PATRICIA; BRASSARD, JULIE; COSTAGUTA, ALEJANDRO; GARDIOL, DANIELA; CAVATORTA, ANA LAURA

ZOONOSES AND PUBLIC HEALTH

WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2019

1863-1959

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is currently considered as a global health concern due to therecognition of its zoonotic transmission to humans, mainly from swine, and its associationwith the development of severe cases of hepatitis in human risk populations.The lack of updated data on HEV state of infection in swineherds of Argentina, andthe necessity of robust technologies for its detection in complex biological samples,positions HEV as an emerging issue in public health. Here, we have optimized a RTqPCRwith internal control for a more precise and accurate HEV RNA detection inswine stool samples. We implemented this optimized molecular tool to analyse thecurrent epidemiological scenario of HEV infection in swine from the core region ofcommercial activity of Argentina. A total of 135 stool samples were collected from16 different farms and tested for HEV presence, resulting in 11 positive cases (8.1%).Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that all of them correspond to HEV genotype 3and that different subtypes circulate in the region. Moreover, two of the detectedstrains presented a high nucleotide similarity with a previously identified isolatefrom human sewage discharges, suggesting the zoonotic transmission of HEV to humans.Collectively, this work provides a better understanding of HEV epidemiologyin Argentina while contributes to the improvement of HEV detection technologies.