Hepatitis E virus in wild boar in the central northern part of Italy

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for sporadic acute hepatitis in developed countries, where the infection is acquired probably through ingestion of contaminated food, in addition to travel-related cases. In this study, the circulation of HEV in wild boar from nine Italian provinces was evaluated. An overall seroprevalence of 10.2% was found, although there were differences among the provinces, while no samples were positive for HEV RNA detection. This study indicates an active circulation of HEV in the Italian wild boar populations and suggests to consider the zoonotic risk in handling and eating meat from this animal.