Hepatitis E virus genotype 3 in mussels (Mytilus galloprovinciallis), Spain

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2016

Authors

Mesquita, JR (Author) Other; Oliveira, D (Author) Other; Rivadulla, E (Author) Other; Abreu Silva, J (Author) Other; Varela, MF (Author) Other; Romalde, JL (Author) Other; Nascimento, MSJ (Author) FFUP

Journal

Title: Food Microbiology

Vol. 58

Pages: 13-15

ISSN: 0740-0020

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 28 Citations

Scopus - 0 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00K-9VK

DOI: 10.1016/j.fm.2016.03.009

Abstract (EN): Coastal waters can become contaminated with both human waste from sewage treatment plants and runoff following manure application. Thus, shellfish produced close to land can bioaccumulate enteric viruses of human and animal origin, including zoonotic hepatitis E virus that infect both human and swine. The goal of this study was to evaluate the presence of HEV in shellfish from Galicia (NW Spain), a densely populated region with a strong tradition of swine farming, and one of the most important regions in the world for mussel production. We tested 81 mussel batches by RT-qPCR followed by conventional broad-spectrum nested RT-PCR and phylogenetic analysis. We have obtained 12 positive samples by RT-qPCR (14.81%) with HEV contamination levels ranging from 6.7 x 10(1) to 8.6 x 10(4) RNA copies/g digestive tissue. Phylogenetic analysis based on a 330 nt region of the ORF 1 showed that all sequenced isolates belonged to the zoonotic genotype 3 subgenotype e, being closely related to strains of human and swine origin. Results show that shellfish may be a potential route for HEV transmission to humans.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 3