Sporadic acute or fulminant hepatitis E in Hokkaido, Japan, may be food-borne, as suggested by the presence of hepatitis E virus in pig liver as food

J Gen Virol. 2003 Sep;84(Pt 9):2351-2357. doi: 10.1099/vir.0.19242-0.

Abstract

Among ten patients who contracted sporadic acute or fulminant hepatitis E between 2001 and 2002 in Hokkaido, Japan, nine (90 %) had a history of consuming grilled or undercooked pig liver 2-8 weeks before the disease onset. We tested packages of raw pig liver sold in grocery stores as food in Hokkaido for the presence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA by RT-PCR. Pig liver specimens from seven (1.9 %) of 363 packages had detectable HEV RNA. Partial sequence analyses revealed that the seven swine HEV isolates belonged to genotype III or IV. One swine HEV isolate (swJL145) from a packaged pig liver had 100 % identity with the HE-JA18 isolate recovered from an 86-year-old patient in Hokkaido. Two swine HEV isolates (swJL234 and swJL325) had 98.5-100 % identity with the HE-JA4 isolate obtained from a 44-year-old patient in Hokkaido. These results indicate that inadequately cooked pig liver may transmit HEV to humans.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acute Disease
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Animals
  • Cooking / standards
  • Food Microbiology*
  • Hepatitis E / epidemiology
  • Hepatitis E / virology*
  • Hepatitis E virus / genetics
  • Hepatitis E virus / isolation & purification*
  • Humans
  • Japan / epidemiology
  • Liver / virology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phylogeny
  • RNA, Viral / analysis
  • Species Specificity
  • Swine / virology*

Substances

  • RNA, Viral

Associated data

  • GENBANK/AB108652
  • GENBANK/AB108653
  • GENBANK/AB108654
  • GENBANK/AB108655
  • GENBANK/AB108656
  • GENBANK/AB108657
  • GENBANK/AB108658
  • GENBANK/AB108659
  • GENBANK/AB108660
  • GENBANK/AB108661
  • GENBANK/AB108662
  • GENBANK/AB108663
  • GENBANK/AB108664
  • GENBANK/AB108665
  • GENBANK/AB108666
  • GENBANK/AY105888
  • GENBANK/AY105889
  • GENBANK/AY105890
  • GENBANK/AY105891
  • GENBANK/AY105892
  • GENBANK/AY105893
  • GENBANK/AY105894
  • GENBANK/AY105895
  • GENBANK/AY105896
  • GENBANK/AY105897
  • GENBANK/AY105898
  • GENBANK/AY105899
  • GENBANK/AY105900
  • GENBANK/AY105901
  • GENBANK/AY105902
  • GENBANK/AY105903
  • GENBANK/AY105904