Key Laboratory of Special Pathogens and Biosafety, Wuhan Institute of Virology, Center for Biosafety Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei 430071, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
Hubei Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Wuhan, Hubei 430079, China.
Infect Genet Evol. 2024 Jul;121:105602. doi: 10.1016/j.meegid.2024.105602. Epub 2024 May 10.
Hepatitis E, caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV), is a global public health issue. Low similarity between the gene sequences of mouse and human HEV led to the belief that the risk of human infection was low. Recent reports of chronic and acute hepatitis E caused by murine HEV infection in humans in Hong Kong have raised global concerns. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the epidemiology and prevalence of HEV in China. We comprehensively analyzed different rodent HEV strains to understand rocahepevirus occurrence in Hubei Province, China. The HEV positivity rate for was 6.43% (73/1136). We identified seven near-full-length rocahepevirus strains and detected rat HEV antigens in tissues from different mouse species. HEV has extensive tissue tropism and a high viral load in the liver. We highlight the genetic diversity of HEVs in rodents and underscore the importance of paying attention to their variation and evolution.
戊型肝炎，由戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）引起，是一个全球性的公共卫生问题。鼠和人 HEV 基因序列的低相似性导致人们认为人类感染的风险较低。最近有报道称，在香港，人类感染鼠源 HEV 可导致慢性和急性戊型肝炎，引起了全球关注。因此，调查中国 HEV 的流行病学和流行情况至关重要。我们全面分析了不同的啮齿动物 HEV 株，以了解中国湖北省的罗卡海病毒发生情况。HEV 阳性率为 6.43%（73/1136）。我们鉴定了 7 株近乎全长的罗卡海病毒株，并在来自不同鼠种的组织中检测到了鼠源 HEV 抗原。HEV 具有广泛的组织嗜性，肝脏中的病毒载量很高。我们强调了啮齿动物中 HEV 的遗传多样性，并强调了注意其变异和进化的重要性。
