Antibody levels to hepatitis E virus in North Carolina swine workers, non-swine workers, swine, and murids.
- 1 April 2002
- journal article
- Published by American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Vol. 66 (4) , 384-388
- https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2002.66.384
Abstract
In a cross-sectional serosurvey, eastern North Carolina swine workers (n = 165) were compared with non-swine workers (127) for the presence of antibodies to hepatitis E virus as measured by a quantitative immunoglobulin enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Using a cutoff of 20 Walter Reed U/ml, swine-exposed subjects had a 4.5-fold higher antibody prevalence (10.9%) than unexposed subjects (2.4%). No evidence of past clinical hepatitis E or unexplained jaundice could be elicited. Swine (84) and mice (61), from farm sites in the same region as exposed subjects, were also tested. Antibody prevalence in swine (overall = 34.5%) varied widely (10.0-91.7%) according to site, but no antibody was detected in mice. Our data contribute to the accumulating evidence that hepatitis E may be a zoonosis and specifically to the concept of it as an occupational infection of livestock workers.Keywords
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