[Epidemiological investigation of hepatitis E virus infection in Tibetan swine population]

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a main global public health issue. HEV can be zoonotically transmitted across species, and swine is recognized as a major reservoir of HEV. However, information is lacking on the prevalence of HEV infection in Tibet of China, where raw pork and mixed farming of different species of domestic animals are consumed traditionally. In this study, swine serum was collected for HEV IgM and IgG antibodies test from five regions in Tibet of China. Meanwhile, HEV RNA was detected in swine sera. HEV has a high prevalence trend in Tibetan swine. Swine serum anti-HEV IgM antibody positive rate was as high as 7.6%, the positive rate of anti-HEV IgG antibody was 1.8%, the positive rate of HEV RNA also was 7.6%, the virus titers in serum was above 1.7×10⁷ copies/mL, and there were different epidemic trends in five regions. In conclusion, antibody detection and RNA detection showed that swine in Tibet had a higher incidence of HEV infection. HEV infection in Tibetan swine is more serious and management should be strengthened to avoid cross-infection between humans and animals and outbreaks in Tibet.