UNLABELLED: A novel genotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV) isolated from rabbits is reported. The aim of this study was to confirm and further investigate the prevalence of the novel HEV genotype in rabbits in China. Sera and faecal samples were collected from farmed rex rabbits in Beijing, China. All serum samples were tested for anti-HEV antibody by EIA. Both the serum and the faecal samples were evaluated for detection of HEV RNA using a nested RT-PCR assay. The nucleotide sequences of rabbit HEV were then analysed, and sequence homology of rabbit HEV compared against human HEV genotypes 1-4, and avian HEV. RESULTS: The prevalence of positive serum anti-HEV from rex rabbits was 54.62% (65/119). The detection rate of HEV RNA using ORF2 primers was 6.96% (8/115) amongst rabbit faecal samples. All eight amplicons shared 98.3-100% nucleotide homology with each other and had identities of 75.8-78.6%, 73.9-75.0%, 77.5-81.0%, 74.2-78.6% and 54.8-57.6% with the corresponding regions of genotypes 1-4 and avian HEV, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the eight sequences formed one individual branch and were on the same branch with GDC9 and GDC46, both of which were reported to be a novel genotype of HEV isolated from rabbits. The conclusion is that this study provides further information about HEV infecting rabbits, which may be a new animal host of HEV, as well as genetical evidence of a new mammalian genotype of HEV.
UNLABELLED: A novel genotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV) isolated from rabbits is reported. The aim of this study was to confirm and further investigate the prevalence of the novel HEV genotype in rabbits in China. Sera and faecal samples were collected from farmed rex rabbits in Beijing, China. All serum samples were tested for anti-HEV antibody by EIA. Both the serum and the faecal samples were evaluated for detection of HEV RNA using a nested RT-PCR assay. The nucleotide sequences of rabbitHEV were then analysed, and sequence homology of rabbitHEV compared against humanHEV genotypes 1-4, and avian HEV. RESULTS: The prevalence of positive serum anti-HEV from rex rabbits was 54.62% (65/119). The detection rate of HEV RNA using ORF2 primers was 6.96% (8/115) amongst rabbit faecal samples. All eight amplicons shared 98.3-100% nucleotide homology with each other and had identities of 75.8-78.6%, 73.9-75.0%, 77.5-81.0%, 74.2-78.6% and 54.8-57.6% with the corresponding regions of genotypes 1-4 and avian HEV, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the eight sequences formed one individual branch and were on the same branch with GDC9 and GDC46, both of which were reported to be a novel genotype of HEV isolated from rabbits. The conclusion is that this study provides further information about HEV infecting rabbits, which may be a new animal host of HEV, as well as genetical evidence of a new mammalian genotype of HEV.
Authors: Caitlin M Cossaboom; Laura Córdoba; Brenton J Sanford; Pablo Piñeyro; Scott P Kenney; Barbara A Dryman; Youchun Wang; Xiang-Jin Meng Journal: J Gen Virol Date: 2012-04-25 Impact factor: 3.891
Authors: Chen Dong; Jihong Meng; Xing Dai; Jiu-Hong Liang; Alicia R Feagins; Xiang-Jin Meng; Natalia M Belfiore; Carol Bradford; Joseph L Corn; Carolyn Cray; Gregory E Glass; Melvin L Gordon; Richard A Hesse; Donald L Montgomery; William L Nicholson; Anthony A Pilny; Sheela Ramamoorthy; Douglas D Shaver; Jan Drobeniuc; Michael A Purdy; Howard A Fields; Saleem Kamili; Chong-Gee Teo Journal: J Clin Microbiol Date: 2011-10-12 Impact factor: 5.948
Authors: Jan Felix Drexler; Annika Seelen; Victor Max Corman; Adriana Fumie Tateno; Veronika Cottontail; Rodrigo Melim Zerbinati; Florian Gloza-Rausch; Stefan M Klose; Yaw Adu-Sarkodie; Samuel K Oppong; Elisabeth K V Kalko; Andreas Osterman; Andrea Rasche; Alexander Adam; Marcel A Müller; Rainer G Ulrich; Eric M Leroy; Alexander N Lukashev; Christian Drosten Journal: J Virol Date: 2012-06-13 Impact factor: 5.103