{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T05:25:06Z","timestamp":1789709106691,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]],"date-time":"2025-03-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1742256000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Belgian Federal Public Service (FPS) Health, Food Chain Safety and Environment","award":["RT19\/2 SUDYHEV1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RT19\/2 SUDYHEV1"]}]},{"name":"UREAR ULi\u00e8ge","award":["RT19\/2 SUDYHEV1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["RT19\/2 SUDYHEV1"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hepatitis E viruses (HEV) cause hepatitis E in humans. In industrialized countries, sporadic HEV infections, typically caused by HEV genotypes 3 or 4, can become chronic and progress to liver cirrhosis in immunocompromised individuals. Pigs are a significant animal reservoir, implicating raw or undercooked pork products as potential sources of human infection. To better understand HEV dissemination in the Belgian pig population, potential risk factors were investigated by linking farm-level HEV serological status to biosecurity questionnaire data. Farrow-to-finish herd type, free-range systems, and poor boot hygiene were significantly associated with higher within-herd prevalences. This enabled an initial risk profiling of various farming types and the development of predictions for all Belgian pig farms. When combined with the census of the Belgian wild boar population, the predicted HEV status of all professional Belgian pig farms (based on these associations) does not suggest that the proximity of wild boars is a main source of HEV in free-ranging herds. Identifying risk factors for increased circulation of HEV between and within pig farms is critical to controlling its spread and reducing human infection.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v17030432","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]],"date-time":"2025-03-18T04:34:43Z","timestamp":1742272483000},"page":"432","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Biosecurity Risk Factors and Predictive Index for Hepatitis E Virus Serological Status in Belgian Pig Farms: Conventional and Free-Range Systems"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4524-4303","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Constance","family":"Wielick","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit in Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR ULi\u00e8ge), FARAH Research Centre, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Li\u00e8ge, 4000 Li\u00e8ge, Belgium"},{"name":"FARAH Research Centre, Veterinary Virology and Animal Viral Diseases, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Li\u00e8ge, 4000 Li\u00e8ge, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Louisa","family":"Ludwig-Begall","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"FARAH Research Centre, Veterinary Virology and Animal Viral Diseases, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Li\u00e8ge, 4000 Li\u00e8ge, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4075-999X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefaan","family":"Ribbens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Animal Health Service Flanders (DGZ Vlaanderen), 8820 Torhout, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9585-7933","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"\u00c9tienne","family":"Thiry","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"FARAH Research Centre, Veterinary Virology and Animal Viral Diseases, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Li\u00e8ge, 4000 Li\u00e8ge, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1878-9869","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christel","family":"Faes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Center for Statistics, Data Science Institute, Hasselt University, 3500 Hasselt, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9087-7436","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claude","family":"Saegerman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Research Unit in Epidemiology and Risk Analysis Applied to Veterinary Sciences (UREAR ULi\u00e8ge), FARAH Research Centre, Department of Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Li\u00e8ge, 4000 Li\u00e8ge, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"001778","DOI":"10.1099\/jgv.0.001778","article-title":"ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Hepeviridae 2022","volume":"103","author":"Purdy","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. 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