UNRAVELING SWINE HEPATITIS E IN THE CENTRAL REGION OF ARGENTINA THROUGH ELISA DEVELOPMENT AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL INSIGHTS

GUTIÉRREZ S; LORENA ARCE; BENCE A; JULIA MATIAS BRANCHER; M. RIVERO; MORAN C; MARÍA GUADALUPE VIZOSO PINTO; ESTEIN S

Comparative Immunology, Microbiology and Infectious Diseases

Science Direct

Año: 2023

1878-1667

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a public health concern globally, causing acute viral hepatitisin humans. Genotype-3 HEV (HEV-3), the most frequently genotype detected in SouthAmerica, is zoonotic and the main reservoirs are the domestic pig and wild boar.Circulation of HEV-3 in Argentina has been confirmed in humans as well as in pigherds, wild boards and environmental waters. However, data are scarce mainly due tothe inaccessibility of serological assays in this country. In order to provide insights inthe epidemiology of HEV in swine in Argentina, we developed an indirect ELISA basedon the native recombinant protein ORF2 and conducted a serological survey todetermine the prevalence of seropositive swine in small-scale pig farms in the centralregion of Argentina. The method was evaluated in a panel of 157 serum samples,resulting in relative sensitivity of 98.6% (95% CI 95%-100%) and relative specificity of97.7% (95% CI 94%-100%) compared to a commercial test. An almost perfectagreement was obtained between the two tests (Kappa index of 0.961). A survey on294 samples from 49 small-scale farms resulted in a seropositivity rate of 54%.Seropositive animals were found in 34 out of 49 (69.4%) farms. Most of the farms(70.6%) had over 50% of seropositive animals. The wide spreading of HEV in theswine population of Tandil, Argentina, underscores the need to better understand theepidemiology of HEV in the region, enabling the implementation of targetedinterventions to mitigate the impact of this virus on public health.