Type-IV Indian swine HEV infects rhesus monkeys.
In contrast to countries reporting zoonotic spread of hepatitis E virus (HEV), distinct genotypes circulate in humans (genotype 1) and pigs (genotype 4) from India indicating rarity of such spread. Pigs were refractory to human HEV. As rhesus is an excellent animal model for human HEV, an attempt was made to infect rhesus monkeys with swine HEV. Experimental infection of both the rhesus monkeys with swine-HEV as evidenced by seroconversion to anti-HEV antibodies and presence of viraemia suggests possibility of human infections or differential susceptibility. Comparison of Open Reading Frame-2 and hypervariable regions of HEV genomes showed identity of swine and monkey-derived HEV.
Arankalle
V A
VA
Hepatitis Division, National Institute of Virology, 20-A Dr. Ambedkar Road, Pune 411001, India. varankalle@yahoo.com
Chobe
L P
LP
Chadha
M S
MS
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000821:virology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000821:virology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008992:Monkey Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D013552:Swine / Q000821:virology*
D000410:Alanine Transaminase