Rat Hepatitis E Virus Linked to Severe Acute Hepatitis in an Immunocompetent Patient

作者：Anton Andonov, Mark S. Robbins, Jamie Borlang, Jingxin Cao, Todd F. Hatchette, Ashley Stueck, Yvon Deschambault, Kyle Murnaghan, Jessy Varga, Lynn Johnston · 发表于：The Journal of Infectious Diseases · 年份：2019 · DOI：10.1093/infdis/jiz025 · 被引用次数：186 · 研究领域：Hepatitis Viruses Studies and Epidemiology、Liver Disease and Transplantation、Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a major public health concern in developing countries where the primary transmission is via contaminated water. Zoonotic HEV cases have been increasingly described in Europe, Japan, and the United States, with pigs representing the main animal reservoir of infection. We report an unusual acute hepatitis infection in a previously healthy man caused by a rat HEV with a considerably divergent genomic sequence compared with other rat HEV strains. It is possible that rat HEV is an underrecognized cause of hepatitis infection, and further studies are necessary to elucidate its potential risk and mode of transmission.