Chirohepevirus from Bats: Insights into Hepatitis E Virus Diversity and Evolution.

ABSTRACT: Homologs of the human hepatitis E virus (HEV) have been identified in more than a dozen animal species. Some of them have been evidenced to cross species barriers and infect humans. Zoonotic HEV infections cause chronic liver diseases as well as a broad range of extrahepatic manifestations, which increasingly become significant clinical problems. Bats comprise approximately one-fifth of all named mammal species and are unique in their distinct immune response to viral infection. Most importantly, they are natural reservoirs of several highly pathogenic viruses, which have induced severe human diseases. Since the first discovery of HEV-related viruses in bats in 2012, multiple genetically divergent HEV variants have been reported in a total of 12 bat species over the last decade, which mark

SUBMITTER: Wang B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9146828 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature