Detection of hepa titis e virus in deer and monkey in Thailand

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in human leads to an acute viral hepatitis that is transmitted via fecaloral route through consumptions of contaminated water or food. Four genotypes of HEV (HEV-1 to -4) have been described worldwide. HEV-1 and HEV-2 are found in human. HEV-3 and HEV-4 are found in both human and animals such as pig, wild boar and deer, indicating a zoonotic transmission. There were evidences showed that human got HEV zoonotic infections by contact with contaminated animal materials or eating contaminated undercooked animal products. In this study, a prevalence of HEV was surveyed in deer and monkey. Deer feces (n=47) were collected from a forest ground in Kanchanaburi Province where human and animal areas are superimposed. Monkey feces (n=55) were collected from an area in Lopburi Province where monkeys live in close contact with human. By semi-nested RT -PCR of 30% fecal suspension with primers specific to a region in 5’ non-coding region (5’NCR) of HEV genome, 21.3% of deer and 25.5% of monkey fecal samples were positive for HEV RNA. An incidence of diseases in the animals was not inspected. However, all feces were normal in their gross appearances. The results suggest that deer and monkey could be potential reservoirs of HEV, although a possibility of the animals acquired the virus from human is not ruled out. The risk of HEV contamination from wild animals to human environment such as water and food also needs to be examined in human habitats.