A Special Risk Group for Hepatitis E Infection: The First Record of North Cyprus.

A Special Risk Group for Hepatitis E Infection: The First Record of North Cyprus. Pol J Microbiol. 2018;67(4):525-528 Authors: Süer K, Güvenir M, Aykaç A Abstract Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is transmitted by a fecal oral route from animals to humans following exposure to the body fluids of infected animals. We investigated the seroprevalence of anti-hepatitis E (anti-HEV) antibodies by monitoring IgG and IgM virus antibodies amongst employees in the animal industry in North Cyprus through a cross-sectional study. Samples were taken from individuals without occupational exposure to animals and from those who worked with animals (doing animal husbandry, veterinary work or butchery). Enzyme-linked immunoassays were used to detect anti-HEV IgG and IgM in the blood samples. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG antibodies was 3.0% (12/400), while the prevalence of anti-HEV IgM antibodies was 0.25% (1/400). The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG amongst the samples received from females was approximately 2.5-fold higher than samples received from males (2.4%). Anti-HEV IgG was detected amongst 7% of animal husbandry workers and amongst 2% of veterinarians and butchers. The current findings represent the first records of HEV surveillance in Cyprus. We investigated the seroprevalence of anti-HEV by monitoring IgG and IgM virus antibodies amongst employees. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is transmitted by a fecal oral route from animals to humans following...
Source: Polish Journal of Microbiology - Category: Microbiology Tags: Pol J Microbiol Source Type: research