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Assessment of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in the edible goat products pointed out a risk for human infection in Upper Egypt

Research Authors
Mohamed A El-Mokhtar, Amal A Elkhawaga, Ibrahim M Sayed
Research Journal
International Journal of Food Microbiology
Research Member
Research Publisher
Elsevier
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
108784
Research Website
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32659521/
Research Year
2020
Research_Pages
1-8
Research Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is endemic in developed and developing countries. Although the seroprevalence of HEV among the Egyptians is high, the sources of HEV infection in Egypt are not completely identified. Zoonotic HEV transmission among Egyptians is underestimated. Recently, we detected HEV in the milk of cows, this suggests the possibility of HEV transmission through the ingestion of contaminated milk. However, the role of small ruminants especially the goats in HEV epidemiology in Egypt remains unclear. Herein, we screened HEV markers in the edible goat products, mainly the milk and liver and we assessed the risk factor for HEV infection to the goat owners.
A total of 280 goat milk samples were collected from 15 villages in the Assiut governorate. Anti-HEV IgG and HEV Ag were detected in 7.14% and 1.8% of the samples, respectively. HEV RNA was detected in 2 milk samples, cladogram