Hepatitis E
Posted at 11:21 am July 24, 2007 by Bethan Morgan
The Central Africa Program in Cameroon recently welcomed Jennifer Glavis, a Master’s student in Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis. Jennifer will be with us until the end of August and is investigating the incidence of Hepatitis E in the primates of the Ebo forest. (Jennifer is pictured here with Ekwoge Abwe as they head off into the Ebo forest.)
Hepatitis E is a relatively little-known virus and was not recognized as a distinct human disease until 1980. Although the disease appears to be present globally, it may be endemic in many parts of northern and subSaharan Africa, including Cameroon. The primary “host” for Hepatitis E (the species with whom the virus has evolved to rely on for its survival) is currently considered to be humans, although antibodies to the virus (showing us that the individual has been exposed to the virus) have been found in a variety of animals, including rodents and pigs.
Hepatitis E seems to be different from other forms of Hepatitis, such as A, B, or C, in that young adults seem to be more susceptible to infection than children. The virus poses a particular risk to pregnant women, where it can cause secondary acute liver failure, but in most young adults it is controlled naturally by the body.
Jennifer is collecting the feces of as many primate species, as well as red river hogs, as she can in the Ebo forest and is preserving them for transport to the U.S. There, she will investigate whether the virus is actually present in the feces and also whether the antibodies to the virus, produced by the host’s body, are present in the feces. Either result will tell us that Hepatitis E is present in the Ebo forest, and we will know a little more about the distribution of this little-known disease.
Dr. Bethan Morgan is a Conservation Research Fellow for the San Diego Zoo’s CRES.
Here’s more information about Bethan’s project.
Read Bethan’s previous blog, Nanga Joins Orphaned Chimpanzees.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Scroll to the end to leave a comment. Pinging is not allowed.
July 24th, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Thanks for the update on Ebo Forest research, Bethan. We look forward to hearing more about Jennifer’s research on Hepatitis E. There is so much we can learn in our “civilized” world from the animals and plants in the jungles. I have read that many, if not most, of the more promising pharmaceutical advances are coming from plants in the jungles and rain forests. We owe much of our current and future survival to these environments, and it is critical and urgent that we do all we can to study, and preserve them.
Thanks for all you do, and for keeping us informed, and educated.
August 4th, 2007 at 4:41 am
Bethan,
Hepatitis E is believed to be an emerging zoonotic disease. So far the best evidence of that- the genomic sequences of HEV, were characterized from pigs and humans that consumed uncooked pig or boar meat and liver. However, little is known about f hepatitis E virus molecular characteristics in other animals. Considering that the virus in stool can be found only during a short period of time during the acute phase of infection, it would be very important that Jenifer’s collection would definitelly include not only feces from adult animals, but also from youngsters. In pig populations, for example, the virus was more likely to be found in stool of piglets 8-12 weeks of age.
I look forward for the results of Jenifer’s project, and I will be glad to chat about this topic if you are interested.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Have been trying to track you down Bethan. You are still working on such interesting things- well done. And especially good to find you blogging too.