ABSTRACT
Objectives@#On February 16, 2022, 12 cases of hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection were reported in a food manufacturing factory in Korea. The aim of this study was to identify additional cases and to determine the source of this HEV outbreak. @*Methods@#This study was an in-depth investigation of 12 HEV immunoglobulin M (IgM)-positive cases and their demographic, clinical, and epidemiological characteristics. On-site specimens were collected from the environment and from humans, and a follow-up investigation was conducted 2 to 3 months after the outbreak. @*Results@#Among 80 production workers in the factory, 12 (15.0%) had acute HEV infection, all of whom were asymptomatic. The follow-up investigation showed that 3 cases were HEV IgM-positive, while 6 were HEV IgG-positive. HEV genes were not detected in the HEV IgM-positive specimens. HEV genes were not detected in the food products or environmental specimens collected on-site. HEV was presumed to be the causative pathogen. However, it could not be confirmed that the source of infection was common consumption inside the factory. @*Conclusion@#This was the first domestic case of an HEV infection outbreak in a food manufacturing factory in Korea. Our results provide information for the future control of outbreaks and for the preparation of measures to prevent domestic outbreaks of HEV infection.
ABSTRACT
Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by the newly discovered SFTS Bunyavirus, and there have been no case reports of SFTS patients presenting with hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) in the English literature. We report a case of SFTS presenting with HLH in a 73-year-old immunocompetent male farmer. Although the patient had poor prognostic factors for SFTS, such as old age and central nervous system symptoms, he recovered fully with supportive care.