Screening of Swiss Pig Herds for Hepatitis E Virus: A Pilot Study

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is an important cause of acute hepatitis in humans worldwide. In industrialised countries, most infections are caused by the zoonotic genotype 3. The main reservoir was found in pigs, with fattening pigs as the main shedders. The aim of this study was to establish a screening tool to detect HEV in pig farms. HEV-positive samples were sequenced using Sanger sequencing. First, different sample materials, including floor swabs, slurry, dust swabs and faeces were tested for HEV. Floor swabs turned out to give the best results and, in the form of sock swabs, were used for the screening of Swiss pig herds. A total of 138 pig farms were tested, with a focus on fattening pigs. Overall, 81 farms (58.8%) were HEV positive. Most sequences belonged to subtype 3h, in which they formed a specific cluster (Swiss cluster). In addition, subtype 3l and two unassigned sequences were detected. As a conclusion, sock swabs were found to be a helpful tool to screen pig herds for HEV and establish a sequence collection that may enable molecular epidemiology and support outbreak investigation and prevention.