SHORT REPORT - POLYMERASE CHAIN-REACTION DETECTION OF HEPATITIS-E VIRUS IN NORTH-AFRICAN FECAL SAMPLES

Epidemics of enterically-transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis were descr ibed in 1983-1984 involving French soldiers in Chad and in 1979-1980 i n residents of Algeria. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) was subsequently impli cated by serology. In this study, the presence of HEV in patient stool specimens from both outbreaks and from sporadic cases in residents of Chad (1994) was documented. This virus was detected in fecal suspensi ons by antibody capture of the virus and reverse transcriptase-polymer ase chain reaction amplification of the viral RNA in the 3' end of ope n reading frame 2. Two of five epidemic cases from Chad (1983-1984) we re positive, as well as one of five sporadic cases from Chad (1994), a nd two of three epidemic cases from Algeria (1979-1980). Of these 13 p atients, 12 had detectable anti-HEV IgG in their serum. These results confirmed that HEV was the cause of hepatitis in at least five of thes e 13 patients.