Monitoring the Hepatitis E risk from swine

Pigs can carry Hepatitis E viruses (HEV) without showing clinical signs of the disease. Humans can catch Hepatitis E after contact with infected pigs or contaminated pork products. Infections can have serious health implications, such as liver failure and even death. Identification and characterisation of the viruses in pigs is needed to determine if there is an increasing risk for humans. Wageningen University & Research is characterising and comparing the HEVs circulating in pigs in different European countries, including the Netherlands, to assess the actual risk of zoonotic HEV infections from swine.