The Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for causing Hepatitis E, a zoonotic disease that has emerged as a significant global health concern, accounting for about 20 million infections and 70,000 deaths annually. Although it is often recognized as a disease that is acute in low-income countries, HEV has also been recognized as a zoonotic disease in high-income countries. The zoonotic transmission requires flexible approaches to effectively monitor the virus, vectors, and reservoirs. However, the environmental monitoring of HEV presents additional challenges due to limitations in current detection methods, making it difficult to accurately assess the global prevalence of the virus. These challenges hinder efforts to fully understand the scope of the disease and to implement effective control measures. This review will explore these and other critical concerns, addressing gaps in HEV research and highlighting the need for improved strategies in the monitoring, prevention, and management of Hepatitis E using a One Health approach.

Emerging pollutants encompass a diverse array of chemicals classified as micropollutants, including pharmaceuticals and microplastics (MPs). Viruses are known to adsorb onto MPs, including binding to bacterial biofilms that form the plastisphere. In this review, we conducted an extensive bibliographic survey to critically assess the potential interactions between micropollutants, such as MPs, organic micropollutants and viruses in aquatic environments, within the One Health context. The interaction between viruses and bacterial cell wall components can increase the infectivity and thermal stability of viral particles, which thrive on biofilms commonly found on MPs in aquatic systems. MPs, acting as viral vectors, can impact viral life cycles, survival, transmission and interaction with hosts, posing significant risks to human, animal and environmental health. There is a clear need for additional practical studies to understand how viruses remain stable when in contact with micropollutants. This field of research provides opportunities to better understand the broader impacts of these interactions, including the potential for new viral outbreaks due to the prolonged persistence of pathogens in the environment.

Chikungunya virus (CHIKV), the causative agent of the chikungunya fever, is an alphavirus widely transmitted by the bite of the female mosquito of the genus Aedes sp., especially in tropical and subtropical regions. Brazil is the country most affected by the microorganism. CHIKV classically induces articular pain, which can become long lasting for even years in a great number of the infected individuals, reducing their quality of life. The mechanisms of CHIKV-induced pain are poorly understood, but recent evidence indicated a role for the transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) in this pathology. Herein, we assessed the ability of intra-articularly injected inactivated CHIKV or its RNA to trigger nociception in mice. Both stimuli induced bilateral secondary hyperalgesia to mechanical and heat stimuli. These responses were attenuated by TRPV1 ablation or antagonism. Joint structural alterations and increased cartilage TRPV1 protein expression were detected in the ipsilateral knee joints injected with either CHIKV or viral RNA. However, the lack of this receptor did not influence the histological changes triggered by CHIKV or RNA. The results further support the role of TRPV1 in CHIKV-induced pain and highlight its importance in the chronic phase of the disease.

Meat products represent important vehicles for foodborne viral transmission, yet standardized detection methodologies for these complex matrices remain limited. This study systematically compared three viral recovery methods across nine meat products representing chicken, pork, and processed deli meat matrices: polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG) precipitation, glycine buffer-chloroform (GBC) phase separation, and β-mercaptoethanol (B-M) chaotropic lysis. Using Murine Norovirus 1 (MNV-1) and Murine Hepatitis Virus 3 (MHV-3) as process controls, recovery efficiency was assessed by RT-qPCR. The B-M method demonstrated the most consistent performance, successfully detecting MNV-1 across all tested matrices and significantly outperforming PEG and GBC for MNV-1 in chicken and pork. Applying the B-M method to 25 commercial retail products revealed the genetic material of Hepatitis E virus (HEV) in four samples and Porcine Circovirus type 2 (PCV-2) in one sample, exclusively within pork products. These findings provide critical comparative performance data for method selection in viral surveillance of meat and document the occurrence of HEV and PCV-2 genetic material in commercial pork products from Santa Catarina, Brazil, highlighting a significant food and agricultural biosafety concern in this major meat-producing and exporting state.

Milk and dairy products may be contaminated by enteric viruses along the production chain, and their high protein and fat content hinders viral concentration and molecular detection. Internationally standardized recovery protocols have been established for leafy greens, soft fruits, and bivalve mollusks, but remain unavailable for dairy matrices. Three low-cost methods were compared for pasteurized milk, namely polyethylene glycol precipitation (PEG), Tris-Glycine-Beef Extract elution (TGBE), and a modified organic flocculation (FLO) exploiting the matrix’s own casein, and three for mozzarella cheese (PEG, TGBE, and glycine buffer–chloroform extraction, GBC). Samples were spiked with murine norovirus 1 (MNV-1) and murine hepatitis virus 3 (MHV-3) as non-enveloped and enveloped surrogates, and recovery was determined by RT-qPCR. TGBE yielded the highest mean recovery in both matrices (milk: 1.5 ± 0.6% for MNV-1 and 4.3 ± 0.6% for MHV-3; cheese: 4.7 ± 3.5% and 15.1 ± 17.5%), and its superiority over PEG for MNV-1 in milk was the only difference to reach statistical significance. PEG achieved recovery comparable to that of TGBE for MNV-1 in cheese (1.1 ± 1.5%) but with greater variability, whereas GBC recovery was negligible and the protocol requires a hazardous solvent. Organic flocculation yielded lower recovery (0.28 ± 0.34% for MNV-1) but allowed for processing of one-liter volumes, a potential alternative for large-volume screening of bulk milk. TGBE therefore appears the most practical candidate for viral recovery from dairy matrices in laboratories with limited infrastructure, although a larger number of replicates and validation with naturally contaminated samples remain necessary before routine application.