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
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Comparative Study
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Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
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Acute Disease
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Aged
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Aged, 80 and over
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Animals
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Cooking / standards
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Food Microbiology*
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Hepatitis E / epidemiology
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Hepatitis E / virology*
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Hepatitis E virus / genetics
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Hepatitis E virus / isolation & purification*
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Humans
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Japan / epidemiology
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Liver / virology*
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Middle Aged
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Molecular Sequence Data
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Phylogeny
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RNA, Viral / analysis
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Species Specificity
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Swine / virology*
Associated data
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GENBANK/AB108652
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GENBANK/AB108653
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GENBANK/AB108654
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GENBANK/AB108655
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GENBANK/AB108656
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GENBANK/AB108657
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GENBANK/AB108658
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GENBANK/AB108659
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GENBANK/AB108660
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GENBANK/AB108661
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GENBANK/AB108662
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GENBANK/AB108663
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GENBANK/AB108664
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GENBANK/AB108665
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GENBANK/AB108666
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GENBANK/AY105888
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GENBANK/AY105889
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GENBANK/AY105890
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GENBANK/AY105891
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GENBANK/AY105892
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GENBANK/AY105893
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GENBANK/AY105894
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GENBANK/AY105895
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GENBANK/AY105896
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GENBANK/AY105897
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GENBANK/AY105898
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GENBANK/AY105899
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GENBANK/AY105900
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GENBANK/AY105901
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GENBANK/AY105902
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GENBANK/AY105903
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GENBANK/AY105904