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Cited by 491Hepatitis Viruses Studies and EpidemiologyAnimal Virus Infections StudiesAnimal Disease Management and Epidemiology

Hepatitis E Virus: Animal Reservoirs and Zoonotic Risk

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Meng, X.J.·2010·Veterinary Microbiology
DOI 10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.03.017PMC PMC2814965
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Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a small, non-enveloped, single-strand, positive-sense RNA virus of approximately 7.2kb in size. HEV is classified in the family Hepeviridae consisting of four recognized major genotypes that infect humans and other animals. Genotypes 1 and 2 HEV are restricted to humans and often associated with large outbreaks and epidemics in developing countries with poor sanitation conditions, whereas genotypes 3 and 4 HEV infect humans, pigs and other animal species and are responsible for sporadic cases of hepatitis E in both developing and industrialized countries. The avian HEV associated with Hepatitis-Splenomegaly syndrome in chickens is genetically and antigenically related to mammalian HEV, and likely represents a new genus in the family. There exist three open reading frames in HEV genome: ORF1 encodes non-structural proteins, ORF2 encodes the capsid protein, and the ORF3 encodes a small phosphoprotein. ORF2 and ORF3 are translated from a single bicistronic mRNA, and overlap each other but neither overlaps ORF1. Due to the lack of an efficient cell culture system and a practical animal model for HEV, the mechanisms of HEV replication and pathogenesis are poorly understood. The recent identification and characterization of animal strains of HEV from pigs and chickens and the demonstrated ability of cross-species infection by these animal strains raise potential public health concerns for zoonotic HEV transmission. It has been shown that the genotypes 3 and 4 HEV strains from pigs can infect humans, and vice versa. Accumulating evidence indicated that hepatitis E is a zoonotic disease, and swine and perhaps other animal species are reservoirs for HEV. A vaccine against HEV is not yet available.

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  • Hepeviridae cause hepatitis E in mammals and have been isolated from various domestic and wild animals including foxes in the Netherlands.

    “We discovered viral transcripts with some sequence similarity to the Hepeviridae that cause hepatitis E in mammals, which has already been isolated from various domestic and wild animals including foxes in the Netherlands (Meng 2010; Bodewes et al. 2013).”

    From Red fox viromes in urban and rural landscapes (2020) · cites this paper as Meng 2010

    The Introduction and §4.3 describe HEV in humans and several domestic and wild animals. Section 4.3 distinguishes confirmed viral recovery from antibody detection, however, and the paper does not report isolation from foxes in the Netherlands. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Confirmed zoonotic cases of hepatitis E include transmission to humans from domestic pigs, cats, and wild rodents.

    “Confirmed zoonotic cases include transmission to humans from domestic pigs, cats, and wild rodents (Meng 2010; Dremsek et al. 2012).”

    From Red fox viromes in urban and rural landscapes (2020) · cites this paper as Meng 2010

    Section 4.3 reports human hepatitis E cases linked to pig products and reported transmission from a pet pig and a pet cat to their owners. It says only that rodents may play a role in HEV transmission; it does not report a confirmed rodent-to-human case. (LLM, conf=0.91)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

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Research works printed but not linked: 67

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Authors
Meng, X. J.
Affiliations
Virginia Tech (US)
Corresponding author
Meng, X.J.
ORCID
Meng, X.J.
Venue
Veterinary Microbiology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-01
Volume
140
Issue
3-4
Pages
256-265
ISSN
0378-1135 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.03.017
PMC
PMC2814965
OpenAlex
W2089743437
Cited by
491
References
65
Citations by year
2026: 6 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 15 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 33 · 2016: 38 · 2015: 44 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 50 · 2012: 49
FWCI
4.58
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations
  • Veterinary Microbiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (R01AI050611, R01AI074667)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hepatology › Hepatitis Viruses Studies and Epidemiology
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Animal Science and Zoology › Animal Virus Infections Studies
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Animal Disease Management and Epidemiology
Keywords
hepatitis E virus, reservoir hosts, zoonotic transmission, pigs, chickens, HEV genotypes, Hepeviridae, cross-species infection, HEV vaccine
MeSH terms
Animals, Chickens, Disease Reservoirs, Humans, Risk Factors, Swine, Zoonoses, Hepatitis E, Hepatitis E virus

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