Porcine Hokovirus in Domestic Pigs, Cameroon

To the Editor: Since 2005, new parvoviruses forming a novel genus of the proposed name Partetravirus, within the subfamily Parvovirinae, have been described (1). Human parvovirus 4 (PARV4) with 3 different genotypes globally infects humans (2). A related porcine virus, hokovirus (HoV or porcine partetravirus), was found in wild boar and domestic pig populations in Germany, Romania, China, and the United States, with prevalences of 12%–47%, forming 1 common genotype (3–6). Prevalence figures from sub-Saharan Africa are not available. Furthermore, no information about possibly region-associated genotypes is available for porcine HoV, although it is for human PARV4 from the same genus. We therefore used samples (collected during February–March 2012) from a study investigating hepatitis E virus (HEV) in pigs from Cameroon (7) to analyze the occurrence of porcine HoV in pigs in Africa and to determine the respective genotype.