Ancient evolutionary origins of hepatitis E virus in rodents.

ABSTRACT: Hepatitis E virus (HEV; family Hepeviridae) infections cause >40,000 human deaths annually. Zoonotic infections predominantly originate from ungulates and occasionally from rats, highlighting the zoonotic potential of rodent-associated hepeviruses. We conducted host genomic data mining and uncovered two genetically divergent rodent-associated hepeviruses, and two bat-associated hepeviruses genetically related to known bat-associated strains. We thus analyzed 2,565 liver specimens from 108 rodent and shrew species sampled from globally understudied regions and hosts in Africa, Asia, and Latin America during 2011-2018 for hepeviruses by RT-PCR. We detected 63 positive field samples (2.5%, 95% CI 1.9-3.1) from 14 animal species, including two coinfections with genetically divergent str

SUBMITTER: Jo WK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11665899 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature