Serological evidence of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection among ruminant farmworkers: A retrospective study from Malaysia

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2022

Abstract

As scant data are available about Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection in Malaysia, this study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of HEV amongst ruminant farmworkers in Malaysia. Methods: A total of 87 farmworkers provided serum samples, which were collected from eight farms. All serum samples were tested for anti-HEV IgG and anti-HEV IgM by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using the Wantai HEV-IgG and HEV-IgMResults: Farmworkers from six cattle farms, one sheep farm and one goat farm were investigated in this study. Only one farm practices zero-grazing, with the rest using rotational grazing. Of the 87 farmworkers, males comprised 83.9%, and almost half (47.1%) were aged 20-35 years old. By ethnic group, the vast majority were Malay. Most of the farmworkers have good hygiene practices; washing or changing their clothes and showering after dealing with farm animals were common. None of the farmworker serum samples had anti-HEV IgM and IgG detected (95% confidence interval (CI): 0, 0.0415).Conclusion: The finding suggests that the farmworkers had no previous exposure to Hepatitis E, and were not at risk of occupational exposure to HEV infection. Our findings suggest that a zero seroprevalence of HEV infection among ruminant farmworkers in the Muslim majority country. Good farm management, hygiene practices and the absence of contact with swine-related contamination might have contributed to the no or minimal zoonotic risks of HEV amongst farmworkers surveyed in this study.

Keywords

HEV, Farmworkers, Seroprevalence, Antibody

Publication Title

Infection and Drug Resistance

Divisions

fac_med

Funders

Newton -Medical Research Council [IF077-2019],National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) [81871247]

Volume

15

Publisher

Dove Medical Press Ltd

Publisher Location

PO BOX 300-008, ALBANY, AUCKLAND 0752, NEW ZEALAND

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