Foodborne Viral Hepatitis

The infectious nature of hepatitis has been recognized since the eighth century. Epidemiological observations and human volunteer studies conducted during the twentieth century initially revealed two types of hepatitis. One type followed a long incubation period and was parentally transmitted; at first called serum hepatitis, it is now referred to as hepatitis B. The other type, with a short incubation period, was enterically transmitted and very contagious; it was first called infectious hepatitis, but subsequently hepatitis A ( 1 ). We now know that there are two rather than one major enterically transmitted hepatitides: hepatitis A and hepatitis E. This chapter reviews the progress made in the understanding of the epidemiology of these two enterically transmitted diseases and of their causative pathogens: hepatitis A virus (HAV) and hepatitis E virus (HEV). Emphasis is on foodborne aspects of the diseases. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.