[An investigation on hepatitis E virus infection status among livestock in Xi'an area].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the carrier state of hepatitis E virus(HEV) in livestock in Xi'an area. METHODS: Bile samples from swine, canine, sheep and cow were collected from a local slaughtering house. Reverse transcriptase nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nPCR) was employed to amplify the ORF2 region in HEV RNA genome. All positive samples were sequenced and compared with data from GenBank. Homology analysis was conducted based on the outcome of sequencing. RESULTS: 194, 178, 79 and 191 bile samples from swine, canine, cow and sheep were collected. Positive rates with RT-nPCR method in these domestic animals were 4.10%, 0%, 0% and 0% respectively. Genetic distance analysis indicated that strains being identified were close to genotype IV of HEV, then genotype I, II and III in nucleic acid. Same outcome was shown by the same analysis on amino acid. CONCLUSION: Swine was the only reservoir of HEV in livestock and genotype IV was the prevalent genotype.