Serological and molecular survey of hepatitis E virus in pets in shaanxi, China

Abstract

Background

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a zoonotic pathogen, and its infection is widespread in China. However, few studies were carried out on pets, especially in western China. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the prevalence of HEV infection in pet dogs, cats, and rabbits. Serum samples from 177 pet dogs, 98 pet cats, and 56 pet rabbits were collected from a pet hospital located in Xi’an city of Shaanxi province, western China, to detect anti-HEV antibodies and HEV RNA.

Results

The positivity rates of HEV IgG were 18.08% (32/177), 16.33% (16/98), and 10.71% (6/56) in pet dogs, cats, and rabbits, respectively. In addition, higher OD values of the anti-HEV IgM antibody were chosen for HEV detection, and the HEV RNA positivity rates were 0% (0/177), 0% (0/98), and 8.93% (5/56). Meanwhile, two different partial HEV ORF1 genes were obtained from 5 positive pet rabbit samples. These sequences shared 88.2% identity with each other and 48.6-98.2% identity with other HEVs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that CN-SX-R1 and CN-SX-R2 (GenBank Nos. PP982770 and PP982771) detected in this study were closely related to genotype 3 HEV strains and belonged to rabbit HEVs.

Conclusions

These results showed that HEV was prevalent in pet dogs, cats, and rabbits in Shaanxi, suggesting that necessary measures must be taken to prevent and control HEV infection in these species.