OBJECTIVETo determine the prevalence and genotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in swine liver before on the market and to analyze the phylogenetic relationship between the isolates from swine and human.

METHODS35 swine liver specimens were collected from two slaughtering houses in the countryside of Shandong province, China. Nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (nested RT-PCR) and subsequent sequencing were used to determine the nucleotide sequences. A phylogenetic tree was constructed with Neighbor-joining method based on the Kimura-2-parameter model.

RESULTS3. (8.57%) of the 35 swine liver specimens being tested were positive for HEV RNA. The three swine HEV strains isolated in the present study from liver samples shared the highest identity to genotype-IV HEV.

CONCLUSIONResults from the study confirmed that HEV was detectable among swine before on the market and the genotype was the same as that representing human and swine isolates in China. It also suggested that much more attention should be paid to the safety on the digestion of swine liver.