title: Hepatitis E virus: the cause of a waterbourne hepatitis outbreak.
abstract: Newly developed assays for antibody to hepatitis E virus (HEV) were used to study 114 serum samples collected during an outbreak of enterically transmitted hepatitis that occurred in Kashmir in 1978/9. The sera included samples from patients with viral hepatitis, anicteric hepatitis, contacts of cases, and unaffected persons. A total of 71% of patients with viral hepatitis were found positive for anti-HEV specific IgG, and 75% of these were also positive for IgM. These data confirm the hepatitis E virus as the causative agent in this outbreak.
authors.affiliation: Regional Virus Laboratory, East Birmingham Hospital, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Skidmore
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Yarbough
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Gabor
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Reyes
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M