Molecular Identification and Characterization of a Genotype 3 Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) Strain Detected in a Wolf Faecal Sample, Italy
Vittorio Sarchese,
Paola Fruci,
Andrea Palombieri,
Federica Di Profio,
Serena Robetto,
Carlo Ercolini,
Riccardo Orusa,
Fulvio Marsilio,
Vito Martella,
Barbara Di Martino
Affiliations
Vittorio Sarchese
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Paola Fruci
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Andrea Palombieri
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Federica Di Profio
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Serena Robetto
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Centro di Referenza Nazionale per le Malattie degli Animali Selvatici (CeRMAS), 11020 Aosta, Italy
Carlo Ercolini
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, SC Liguria e Portualità Marittima, 19100 La Spezia, Italy
Riccardo Orusa
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta, Centro di Referenza Nazionale per le Malattie degli Animali Selvatici (CeRMAS), 11020 Aosta, Italy
Fulvio Marsilio
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Vito Martella
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Università Aldo Moro di Bari, 70121 Valenzano, Italy
Barbara Di Martino
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Università degli Studi di Teramo, 64100 Teramo, Italy
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a major health problem worldwide. In developed countries, zoonotic transmission of HEV genotypes (Gt) 3 and 4 is caused by the ingestion of raw or undercooked meat of infected pigs and wild boars, the main reservoirs of HEV. However, additional animals may harbour HEV or HEV-related strains, including carnivores. In this study, we investigated the molecular epidemiology of orthohepeviruses in wild canids by screening a total of 136 archival faecal samples, collected from wolves (42) and red foxes (94) in Northwestern Italy. Orthohepevirus RNA was identified in a faecal specimen, collected from a wolf carcass in the province of La Spezia (Liguria Region, Italy). The nearly full-length (7212 nucleotides) genome of the strain HEV/81236/Wolf/2019/ITA (GenBank accession no. MZ463196) was determined by combining a sequence-independent single-primer amplification (SISPA) approach with the Oxford Nanopore Technologies sequencing platform. Upon phylogenetic analysis, the HEV detected in wolf was segregated into clade HEV-3.1, displaying the highest nucleotide (nt) identity (89.0–93.3%) to Gt3 strains belonging to subtype c. Interestingly, the wolf faecal sample also contained porcine astrovirus sequences, endorsing the hypothesis of a dietary origin of the HEV strain due to preying habits.