Hepatitis E. virus is prevalent in the Danish pig population

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for major outbreaks of acute hepatitis in humans from developing countries, but evidence increases that also in industrialized countries locally acquired HEV infections acor. The disease usually affects young adults and has a relatively high mortality in infected pregnant women. HEV sequences worldwide can be classified into four major genotypes. Genotypes 1 and 2 are causing the majority of HEV infections in humans in hyper-endemic areas. In contrast, HEV genotypes 3 and 4 identified in cases of human hepatitis with increasing prevalence in countries such as USA, Europe, Japan and China. There is increasing evidence for the zoonotic origin of infections with HEV genotypes 3 and 4. Swine HEV sequences closely related to human HEV sequences have been detected in many countries and in several cases the source of infection has been linked to contact with swine or ingestion of undercooked swine meat. The aim of this study was to clarify if HEV is prevalent in the Danish pig population. Presence of HEV was examined by detection of HEV by real time RT-PCR or serological screening for HEV antibodies.