Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infects pigs but does not cause clinical disease in pigs. There is concern that hepatitis E virus from pigs may infect people and that pigs may be an important reservoir for HEV. Results from this experiment indicate that HEV can be transmitted by oral consumption of fresh or cooked liver from HEV-infected pigs or by consumption of fresh or frozen pork meat contaminated with feces from pigs shedding HEV. Surprisingly, cooking to an internal temperature of 160°F did not appear to inactivate the HEV. Because of these unexpected results with potential food safety and pork trade implications; we are in the process of conducting additional testing to further confirm these findings.
This research project was lead by Dr. Pat Halbur ([email protected]) at the Iowa State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, 1600 S. 16th Street, Ames, IA 50011, Ph:515-294-1950, Fax:515-294-6961.
