THEAbruzzo, with 22,2% of the total number of cases registered at national level, it is the region most affected byHepatitis E, disease of swine caused by a virus (HEV) capable of being transmitted from animal to animal and which can pass to humans by via foodIn fact, in Abruzzo the consumption of raw or undercooked pork (meat and liver sausages, including wild boar) is very common. The Animal Health Veterinary Service of the ASL Lanciano Vasto Chieti, directed by Giovanni Di Paolo, has developed an experimental study on hunted wild boars in order to determine in this population (about 6.000 specimens) not so much the serological positivity of these animals, a sign of contact with the virus, but the real presence of the hepatitis E virus itself through specific isolation techniques.
The results of the study were considered very interesting by the international scientific community and were presented at cnth World Conference of Animal Infectious Disease Researchers just held in Chicago (Illinois), in the United States. Fabrizio De Massis, Giuseppe Aprea, Silvia Scattolini, Daniela D'Angelantonio, Arianna Boni, Francesco Pomilio and Giacomo Migliorati dell 'collaborated in the study, together with Giovanni Di Paolo and Angelo Giammarino of the Animal Health Veterinary Service of the ASL.Zooprophylactic Institute of Teramo and the prevention technician Chiara Morgani.
In particular, the virus was searched for in the liver and gallbladder of 102 wild boars from the municipalities falling within the Chietino Lancianese hunting area (ATC). The results of the analyzes highlighted the presence of the virus in the matrices of eight wild boars, showing an infection rate of 7,8% (number of infected subjects out of the total number of animals tested). The investigation also aimed to determine whether hunters who have had contact with infected animals are seropositive to the hepatitis E virus; in this case, none of the hunters were found to be infected.
In situations of "close" contact, the hepatitis E virus can in fact pass from infected suidae to humans through the consumption of meat or liver without adequate heat treatment, causing the onset of the disease which, although asymptomatic in most cases, can sometimes manifest itself with the classic symptoms of acute hepatitis (high fever, abdominal pain, jaundice). Much importance in the transmission of the disease it is given to the wild boar, which is able to host the virus by acting as a source of infection for humans (Sansalvo.net).