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The article focuses on the prevalence of acute respiratory illness related to human enterovirus 68 (HEV68) in Asia, Europe and the U.S. from 2008-2010, which included fatal cases from the Philippines and Japan. It is in the Philippine's Eastern Visayas that an outbreak of HEV68 was seen in late October 2008, which affected 21 patients who were mostly 0-4 years old. In Arizona, the state Department of Health Services detected HEV68 in 5 patients from August - September 2010.

The article describes six clusters of acute respiratory illness related to human enterovirus 68 (HEV68) in the U.S., Europe and Asia from 2008-2010. HEV68 infection was reportedly linked with respiratory illness ranging from mild illness not requiring hospitalization to severe illness demanding intensive care and mechanical ventilation. Three cases, one in Japan and two in the Philippines, were said to be fatal. HEV68 disproportionately occurred among children in these six clusters. In August-November 2010, HEV68 was found within a prospective study of respiratory infections in the northern part of the Netherlands. Cases of HEV68 in Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia were described.

Background Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is a significant public health concern in Asia, and swine is an important source of sporadic HEV infection in human. However, no epidemiological data are available regarding HEV infection among the swine or human population in the Philippines. To assess the HEV infection status among pigs in rural areas, we investigated the molecular characteristics and seroprevalence of HEV among household-raised pigs in San Jose, Tarlac Province, the Philippines. Result Serum and rectal swab samples were collected from 299 pigs aged 2-24 months from 155 households in four barangays (villages) between July 2010 and June 2011. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed that 50.3% [95% confidence interval (CI) 44.5-56.2%] and 22.9% (95% CI 18.2-28.1%) of pigs tested positive for anti-HEV IgG and IgM, respectively. HEV RNA was detected in the feces of 22 pigs (7.4%, 95% CI 4.7-10.9%). A total of 103 households (66.5%, 95% CI 58.4-73.8%) had at least one pig that tested positive for anti-HEV IgG or IgM or HEV RNA. The prevalence of anti-HEV IgG and IgM in breeding pig (8-24 months) were higher than that in growing pigs (2-4 months) (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.008, respectively). HEV RNA was more frequently detected in 2-4-month-old pigs (9.2%, 95% CI 5.4-14.6%) than in ⩾5-month-old pigs (4.8%, 95% CI 1.1-8.5%) without statistical significance (p = 0.142). HEV RNA showed 0-27.6% nucleotide difference at the partial ORF2 gene among the detected viruses, and a majority of them belonged to subtype 3a (20/22, 90.9%). Conclusion We found a high prevalence of HEV antibodies in the household-raised pig population in rural areas of the Philippines, which indicates the potential risk of HEV infection among local residents. Only genotype 3 of HEV was observed, and genetically diverse strains of HEV were found to be circulating in pigs in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]