Complete Genome Sequence of Hepatitis E Virus from Rabbits in the United States

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a single-strand positive-sense RNA virus in the family Hepeviridae. The disease caused by HEV, hepatitis E, is an important public health problem in developing countries of Asia and Africa and is also endemic in many industrialized countries, including the United States. HEV has been identified from several other animal species in addition to humans, including the pig, chicken, mongoose, deer, rabbit, ferret, bat, and fish. Here we report the complete genome sequence of the first strain of HEV from rabbits in the United States. Sequence and phylogenetic analyses revealed that the U.S. rabbit HEV is a distant member of the zoonotic genotype 3 HEV, thus raising a concern for potential zoonotic human infection. A unique 90-nucleotide insertion within the X domain of the ORF1 was identified in the rabbit HEV, and this insertion may play a role in the species tropism of HEV.

Host Immune Status and Response to Hepatitis E Virus Infection

“…2). HEV-3 is prevalent among swine worldwide (71)(72)(73)(74)(75)(76)(77)(78)(79)(80)(81)(82)(83)(84)(85)(86) as well as in other mammals, including deer and mongooses (83,(87)(88)(89), though little is known about the sylvatic circulation of HEV.…”

Serological evidence of Hepatitis E Virus infection in Antioquia, Colombia slaughtered pigs

“…Based on the sample size required to estimate seropositivity in Antioquia with a confidence y del genoma viral en jabalíes, venados, conejos, ratas y murciélagos (2,7,8), pero todavía no es claro el papel que desempeñan estas especies en la epidemiologia de la infección. Por otro lado, el mayor riesgo de infección que tienen las personas que manipulan cerdos (9), la alta identidad genética entre los genotipos detectados en cerdos y humanos (10,11) y la infección experimental con los genotipos de cerdos en primates no humanos son hallazgos que permitieron identificar al cerdo como el reservorio para la trasmisión zoonótica del virus (2,10,11 (14).…”

“…In addition to the findings in humans, serologic evidence of infection has been found in other species such as cattle, dogs and chickens (6), and the viral genome in wild boars, deer, rabbits, rats and bats (2,7,8) but it is still unclear what role these species play in the epidemiology of the infection. On the other hand, the increased…”

Hepatitis-E-Virus

“…Tab. 1) [14,18,[127][128][129] [135]. Inwieweit diese Annahme durch die Beobachtung unterstützt wird, dass HEV-C1 in humanen Zellen vermehrt werden kann, muss weiter untersucht werden [136].…”