Lorena Girón Olmeda defended this Degree Final Project

September 27^th, 2016

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the principal causative agent of acute hepatitis in humans. In endemic regions the main route of transmission in epidemics is contaminated water, whereas sporadic cases in developed countries are mainly related to animals. Nowadays hepatitis E is considered an important emerging zoonosis. In addition to domestic pig, other wild animals species as wild boars and cervids are VHE hosts. The origin of this infection in humans seems to be the contact with infected animals and the consume of raw meat of these animals, but this transmission route is not yet well known. To value the potential risk that can represent wildlife related to hepatitis E it is basic to know the actual HEV prevalence in these animal populations, therefore it is the main objective of this work.
A total of 209 serum and liver juice samples from wild boars, red deer and fallow deer were analyzed by an ELISA technique that detects anti-HEV antibodies. Only 5 samples were positive (2,8%), all from wild boars. Moreover, 43 liver samples were analyzed by real time PCR from the same animal species, but no RNA was detected in any sample. Results obtained in present work were no expected because prevalences observed in previous studies were higher.
In conclusion, the present work indicates that HEV circulation in wildlife in Comunidad de Madrid is limited, although it is necessary to increase study areas and samples’number in future studies