Jenckel Maria, Smith Ina, King Tegan, West Peter, Taggart Patrick L, Strive Tanja, Hall Robyn N
CSIRO Health and Biosecurity, Black Mountain, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, Orange 2800, Australia.
Pathogens. 2021 Dec 17;10(12):1637. doi: 10.3390/pathogens10121637.
In 2020, Hepatitis E virus (HEV) was detected for the first time in Australian rabbits. To improve our understanding of the genetic diversity and distribution of the virus, 1635 rabbit liver samples from locations across Australia were screened via RT-qPCR for HEV. HEV genomes were amplified and sequenced from 48 positive samples. Furthermore, we tested 380 serum samples from 11 locations across Australia for antibodies against HEV. HEV was detected in rabbits from all states and territories, except the Northern Territory. Seroprevalence varied between locations (from 0% to 22%), demonstrating that HEV is widely distributed in rabbit populations across Australia. Phylogenetic analyses showed that Australian HEV sequences are genetically diverse and that HEV was likely introduced into Australia independently on several occasions. In summary, this study broadens our understanding of the genetic diversity of rabbit HEV globally and shows that the virus is endemic in both domestic and wild rabbit populations in Australia.
2020年，在澳大利亚兔子中首次检测到戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）。为了增进我们对该病毒遗传多样性和分布情况的了解，通过逆转录定量聚合酶链反应（RT-qPCR）对来自澳大利亚各地的1635份兔子肝脏样本进行了戊型肝炎病毒筛查。从48份阳性样本中扩增并测序了戊型肝炎病毒基因组。此外，我们还对来自澳大利亚11个地点的380份血清样本进行了抗戊型肝炎病毒抗体检测。除北领地外，在澳大利亚所有州和领地的兔子中均检测到了戊型肝炎病毒。不同地点的血清阳性率有所不同（从0%到22%），这表明戊型肝炎病毒在澳大利亚的兔子种群中广泛分布。系统发育分析表明，澳大利亚的戊型肝炎病毒序列在遗传上具有多样性，并且戊型肝炎病毒可能多次独立传入澳大利亚。总之，本研究拓宽了我们对全球兔子戊型肝炎病毒遗传多样性的认识，并表明该病毒在澳大利亚的家兔和野兔种群中均为地方流行。
