Hepatitis E virus from rats can also infect humans in individual cases – a new zoonotic pathogen? Symposium on foodborne viruses at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
What it's about:
Hepatitis viruses can cause inflammation of the liver. Of the five most significant virus types, A, B, C, D and E, the latter mentioned hepatitis E viruses (HEV) alone cause an estimated 20 million human infections worldwide each year. However, it has only been known for a few years that humans can also be infected with a variant of the hepatitis E virus that is usually prevalent in rats. Following reports of individual cases, mainly from Hong Kong and Spain, the first infection with ratHEV has now also been described in a patient from Germany. "How the virus is transmitted is still largely unclear", says Professor Reimar Johne, head of the Unit Viruses in Food at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. "However, the results of the investigation suggest that ratHEV has to be considered a new zoonotic pathogen in Germany and Central Europe." Researchers will present the current state of knowledge on ratHEV and new findings on the spread and transmission of the pathogen at the 6th BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment Symposium on "Foodborne Viruses". In addition to HEV, other viruses, especially those that are also transmitted through consumption of food, will be on the agenda of the event. These include well-known foodborne viruses such as the highly contagious noroviruses and hepatitis A viruses. However, the potential risks posed by the transmission of other viruses will also be discussed, for example the relatively little-investigated gastrointestinal adenoviruses, and influenza viruses, which are currently causing a resurgence of bird flu. Experts will provide information on the latest findings on these pathogens in three thematic blocks: "Basic Knowledge", "Detection Methods" and "Hygiene, Inactivation and Evaluation of Results". The symposium will take place on 27 November in Berlin at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment site in Marienfelde and is aimed at interested parties from scientific institutions, food safety laboratories and regional authorities in German-speaking countries. Journalists are cordially invited to attend.
Virus-related illnesses caused by the consumption of contaminated food are often caused by human noroviruses or hepatitis A viruses, which are mostly detected on frozen berries and in shellfish. In contrast, hepatitis E viruses are primarily transmitted through the consumption of insufficiently heated meat products from pigs and game animals. Every year, over 4,000 cases of hepatitis E are reported in Germany, in which such zoonotic transmission – i.e. direct or indirect transmission from animals to humans – is assumed. The main focus of the symposium for all discussed pathogens will be on the question of how they can be effectively detected and inactivated, and how their transmission can be prevented. The day will begin with an overview of current developments in human diseases caused by foodborne viruses in Germany. Another presentation will focus on avian influenza and the occurrence of the pathogen in dairy cattle. The underlying question is whether influenza viruses can be transmitted through the consumption of milk and dairy produce from infected cows.
Whether ratHEV can be transmitted via food is still a relatively new research question. The pathogen was first detected in wild Norway rats in 2010 by a working group led by Prof. Johne. While experts initially assumed that this virus only affects rats, it is now clear that it can also be present in other animals. Since 2018, it is known that humans can also become infected in individual cases and develop acute or chronic liver inflammation (hepatitis) as a result. At least in Berlin, the virus appears to circulate permanently in wild rats, as Prof. Johne, the main organiser of the symposium, will explain based on his own research findings. Johne is part of the research team that also identified the first ratHEV infection in a human in Germany. Current research is investigating whether the pathogen is transmitted directly from rats or through contact with their excretions, or whether, like other hepatitis E viruses, it is transmitted indirectly via the intermediate host pig and food made from pork. As an essential prerequisite for investigating the pathogen and its transmission routes, researchers at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment have tested in which cell culture systems different hepatitis E viruses can be propagated and studied. The results will be presented in another lecture at the symposium.
Adenoviruses, viral pathogens about whose transmission via food relatively little is known, are also on the conference agenda. Similar to noroviruses, they are transmitted via the faecal-oral route, but their significance for foodborne infections is unclear, partly because there has been a lack of appropriate methods for detection of the pathogen in food. A new detection method developed at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and now validated in collaboration with several other laboratories will be presented at the symposium.
Journalists have the opportunity to participate in the conference, either online or on site. If you are interested, please contact pressestelle@bfr.bund.de . The lectures will be held in German.
The full programme and registration information can be found here:
External Link:https://www.bfr-akademie.de/english/events/viren2025.html
Further information on food-associated viruses on the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment website
- Information page on hepatitis viruses To the page
- FAQ Noroviruses – recognizing and avoiding sources of infection To the FAQ
- Unit Viruses in Food at BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment To the page
About the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment) is a scientifically independent institution within the portfolio of the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity (BMLEH). It protects people's health preventively in the fields of public health and veterinary public health. The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment provides advice to the Federal Government as well as the Federal States (‘Laender’) on questions related to food, feed, chemical and product safety. The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment conducts its own research on topics closely related to its assessment tasks.