Key result
Wild boars in Argentina show ~42% HEV seropositivity confirming genotype 3 circulation.
Why the study?
Hepatitis E virus is a major public health concern with wild boars acting as reservoirs, but evidence of its presence and zoonotic risk in wild boars from Argentina required investigation.
Observational (n=80)
No
The study confirms the presence of zoonotic HEV genotype 3 in wild boars in Argentina, highlighting a potential public health risk.
Confirms HEV genotype 3 circulation in Argentine wild boars; leaves open human zoonotic risk assessment.
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a global public health concern, causing over 20 million infections annually. It is primarily transmitted via the fecal–oral route, with wild boars and domestic swine as major reservoirs involved in zoonotic transmission. Bahía de Samborombón is an important natural reserve in Argentina characterized by a high population of wild boars, located in a livestock-intensive region near major urban centers. As part of a wild boar control program, 11 sampling campaigns were carried out between 2022 and 2023. Fecal, blood, and liver samples were systematically collected from 80 captured animals for the detection and characterization of HEV through antibody and RNA testing. Serological analysis revealed a positivity rate of 42.4%, whereas RT-qPCR detected HEV RNA in 9.1% of fecal samples and 12.5% of liver samples. From the positive samples, seven viral sequences were recovered using RT-nested PCR, including six from ORF1 and one from ORF2. Phylogenetic analysis clustered these sequences within zoonotic HEV genotype 3, showing a close relationship with human sequences from Buenos Aires and neighboring provinces. This study confirms the presence of HEV in wild boars from Argentina, highlighting the circulation of genotype 3, clade abchijklmno and the associated zoonotic risk.
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Williman et al. (2026) conducted an observational in Wild adult wild boars captured in Bahía de Samborombón, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina (n=80). None (observational sampling and testing) was evaluated on HEV infection detected by serology (anti-HEV antibodies) and molecular testing (RT-qPCR for HEV RNA) (95% CI 95% CI 30.3–55.2% for seroprevalence; 9.1% [95% CI 3.4–18.7%] in feces; 12.5% [95% CI 5.2–24.1%] in liver samples for HEV RNA detection). Wild boars in Argentina showed 42.4% seropositivity to HEV and 9.1% and 12.5% HEV RNA positivity in fecal and liver samples confirming circulation of genotype 3 HEV.
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