Prevalence of Hepatitis E Virus (HEV) Antibodies in Sheep from Sokoto State

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a cause for public health concern in many developing countries where sanitation conditions are poor. Sheep along with other species has been reported to be highly sero-positive for anti-HEV antibodies. Given the high infection rates and expanded HEV host range, increasing attention has been focused on the zoonotic nature of HEV and the close association of particular animal species with humans. This research was designed to determine the prevalence of HEV antibodies in Sheep from Sokoto Metropolis using Indirect Enzyme Linked immunosorbent assay. An overall prevalence of 31.82% (56/176) was recorded in the study. Female Sheep were found to be more exposed to Hepatitis E Virus than male Sheep with a prevalence of 39.6% and 21.3% respectively P-value<0.05. Sheep one year and older were more exposed to HEV infections than younger Sheep. P-value<0.05.It was concluded that sheep can be, and are, infected with HEV and may go about as natural reservoirs for HEV infection. Sero-prevalence may increase with age in sheep as a result of repeated exposure. The breed has no outcome on the prevalence of HEV infection in sheep and goats while sex had no impact on HEV infection in Sheep. There is need to carry out a detailed molecular detection and characterization of the virus to determine the epidemiological pattern of distribution of the virus in the study area.