Background and Objectives: The source of HEV infection in France remains still unclear for patients without journey in endemic Posters: 03. Other hepatitis viruses: HAV, HDV, HEV area. Since swine is considered as a potential reservoir of HEV, samples from pig herds and a pet pig living with a symptomatic HEV patient were analyzed.

Methods: Swine serum and faeces samples were collected from (1) three selected pig herds and (2) a Vietnamese pet pig owned by a patient who developed an acute HEV infection. Anti-HEV antibodies were detected using an Elisa kit adapted for swine. Presence of HEVRNA was examined by RT-nested-PCR, using HEV degener- ated primers, on pool of faeces samples or on individual samples.

Results: (1) In herds, prevalence of HEV antibodies was ranging from 5% to 55% with a correlation observed between the number of animals exposed to the virus and the amount of HEV genome found in samples. Genotype 3 swine HEV sequences were isolated in all selected herds. HEV sequences were homogeneous inside each herd but different between the different herds. Sequences are genetically close to European swine HEV and cluster with Spanish and Dutch sequences. Since contaminated farm sewage is used as fertilizer in open fields, it could be considered as a potential source of HEV contamination of ground water or food products. (2) In the pet pig, no antibodies were detected. Genotype 3 HEV sequence was also isolated but only in the serum and showed 91% homology in nucleotides (ORF-2) with the patient's isolate. This observation suggests a direct contamination between human and swine but the source of contamination is still unknown.

Conclusion: This study confirms that (1) swine herds and pet pig are possible reservoirs for autochtonous HEV infections in France, (2) pet pig could be involved in sporadic transmission of HEV. Further investigations are needed to identify the other routes of transmission of HEV to human in non-endemic areas like France and to confirm the role of swine reservoir.

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