Genotyping of hepatitis A virus detected in bivalve shellfish in Galicia (NW Spain)

摘要

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) represents a significant public health problem due to its high persistencenin the environment and its transmission through contaminated water and food. Bivalve shellfishnare filter feeders that can bioaccumulate human pathogens found in contaminated waters, theirnconsumption being a potential cause of hepatitis A outbreaks. In this work, cultured and wildnbivalve shellfish from the Rı ´a de Vigo (Galicia, NW Spain) were analysed for the presence andngenotyping of HAV. A total of 160 shellfish samples were collected between March 2004 andnDecember 2006, including 68 samples from cultured mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis), 30 fromnwild clams (Rupitapes decussatus), 31 from wild cockles (Cerastoderma edule) and 31 from wildnmussel. HAV detection, carried out by quantitative RT-PCR, was positive for 29 (42.6%) culturednand 40 (43.5%) wild samples, with levels ranging from 3.1 £ 102nand 1.4 £ 1010nRNA copies/g ofnshellfish digestive tissue. The phylogenetic analysis of VP1-P2A and VP3-VP1 regions, separatelynor as concatenated sequences, revealed that all HAV strains analysed belong to subgenotype IB.nThese results indicate a high prevalence of this subgenotype in the area studied.