Acute hepatitis caused by a novel strain of hepatitis E virus most closely related to United States strains.
A unique hepatitis E virus (HEV) strain was identified as the aetiological agent of acute hepatitis in a United States (US) patient who had recently returned from vacation in Thailand, a country in which HEV is endemic. Sequence comparison showed that this HEV strain was most similar, but not identical, to the swine and human HEV strains recovered in the US. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this new HEV isolate was closer to genotype 3 strains than to the genotype 1 strains common in Asia. The fact that this HEV was closely related to strains recovered in countries where HEV is not endemic and was highly divergent from Asian HEV strains raises the questions of where the patient's infection was acquired and of whether strains are geographically as localized as once thought.
Kabrane-Lazizi
Yamina
Y
Hepatitis Viruses and Molecular Hepatitis Sections, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases1 and Laboratory of Immunoregulation2, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Zhang
Mingdong
M
Hepatitis Viruses and Molecular Hepatitis Sections, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases1 and Laboratory of Immunoregulation2, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Purcell
Robert H
RH
Hepatitis Viruses and Molecular Hepatitis Sections, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases1 and Laboratory of Immunoregulation2, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Miller
Kirk D
KD
Hepatitis Viruses and Molecular Hepatitis Sections, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases1 and Laboratory of Immunoregulation2, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Davey
Richard T
RT
Critical Care Medicine Department, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA3.
Emerson
Suzanne U
SU
Hepatitis Viruses and Molecular Hepatitis Sections, Laboratory of Infectious Diseases1 and Laboratory of Immunoregulation2, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000821:virology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D010802:Phylogeny; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014481:United States
D000914:Antibodies, Viral