RT Journal Article
T1 Hepatitis E virus in pigs at the moment of slaughter in Spain, 2015 and 2017
A1 García Benzaquén, Nerea
A1 Hernández, Marta
A1 Santamaría-Palacios, Jorge
A1 Martínez Alares, Irene
A1 Navarro Gómez, Alejandro
A1 Muñoz-Chimeno, Milagros
A1 Escobar, Franco
A1 Fongaro, Gislaine
A1 Yeramian, Nadine
A1 Trząskowska, Monika
A1 Avellón, Ana
A1 Eiros, José María
A1 Domínguez Rodríguez, Lucas José
A1 Valero, Antonio
A1 Goyache Goñi, Joaquín
A1 Rodríguez-Lázaro, David
AB We investigated the presence of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in pigs at the moment of slaughter in Spain in years 2015 and 2017. A total of 1786 caecal content, liver, and serum samples from animals at slaughterhouses were tested by reverse transcription real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and anti-HEV antibodies were evaluated in 623 serum samples by an ELISA test. The overall seroprevalence obtained was 70.9 %. A total of 398 RT-qPCR positive samples were identified in caecal content (26.8 %; 156/583), serum (21.8 %; 136/623) and liver (18.3 %; 106/580). A total of 32 RT-qPCR positive samples were genotyped; 3f (84.4 %) and the 3c (9.4 %) being the most prevalent subgenotypes. This is the first report on detection of HEV in pigs at the moment of slaughter with a Spain nation-wide representation. The data show a large high seroprevalence (70.9 %) in pigs, while the presence of the virus (HEV RNA) was significantly lower. HEV RNA detection varied markedly between matrices, with caecal samples showing higher positivity (30–50 %) than serum (5–25 %); both simple and interaction GEE models confirmed strong effects of sample type and its interaction with year on prevalence estimates. However, the percentage of positive liver samples (18.3 %) and the concurrence between the HEV 3 subtypes identified (3f, 3m and 3c) and those identified in human patients in Spain, underscores the possibility of foodborne zoonosis. It can represent a real risk for consumers if pork products are not cooked adequately. A holistic One-Health approach, including a better understanding of HEV prevalence in the swine population, would allow implementation of control measures in the meat chain to mitigate the main transmission routes for humans.
PB Elsevier
SN 0740-0020
YR 2026
FD 2026
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/129492
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/129492
LA eng
NO García, N., Hernández, M., Santamaría-Palacios, J., Martínez, I., Navarro, A., Muñoz-Chimeno, M., Escobar, F., Fongaro, G., Yeramian, N., Trząskowska, M., Avellón, A., Eiros, J. M., Domínguez, L., Valero, A., Goyache, J., & Rodríguez-Lázaro, D. (2026). Hepatitis E virus in pigs at the moment of slaughter in Spain, 2015 and 2017. Food Microbiology, 136, 105011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fm.2025.105011
NO Credit authorship contribution statementNerea García: Writing – review & editing, Project administration, Formal analysis, Conceptualization. Marta Hernandez: ´ Investigation. Jorge Santamaría-Palacios: Investigation. Irene Martínez: Investiga tion. Alejandro Navarro: Conceptualization. Milagros Munoz-Chi ˜  meno: Investigation. Franco Escobar: Investigation. Gislaine Fongaro: Investigation. Nadine Yeramian: Investigation. Monika Trząskowska: Investigation. Ana Avellon: ´ Methodology, Investigation. Jose María Eiros: Investigation. Lucas Domínguez: Conceptualization, Investigation. Antonio Valero: Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis. Joaquín Goyache: Writing – review & editing, Project administration, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Conceptualization. David Rodríguez-Lazaro: ´ Writing – review & editing, Writing – orig inal draft, Validation, Supervision, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization
NO Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades (España)
NO Junta de Castilla y León
DS Docta Complutense
RD 31 mar 2026