An Epidemiological Survey of Hepatitis E virus in Sika Deer, Cervus nippon, in Nara Park, Japan

Abstract

Hepatitis E Virus(HEV) infections have been reported in deer as well as in domestic animals; however, the precise epidemiological information regarding HEV infections in the Shika Deer in Nara Park in Japan remains to be investigated. In this study, we examined the anti-HEV antibodies and HEV-RNA in sera from 173 of female sika deer in the park. The reactivity to HEV antigen in the serum samples were low levels. The detection of HEV-RNA in sera from the deer revealed no positive samples by RT-PCR analysis. In conclusion, we could not able to identify the HEV antibody and HEV-RNA positive individual in the sika deer which inhabited Nara Park. Therefore, the possibility of the HEV infection in the deer of the park would be extremely low.