title: High prevalence of rat hepatitis E virus in wild rats in China.
abstract: Serum samples from a total of 713 wild rats captured in Zhanjiang city in China from December 2011 to September 2012 were investigated for the prevalence of rat hepatitis E virus (HEV) by exploring rat HEV-specific antibodies and RNA. By an ELISA based on recombinant rat HEV-like particles (HEV-LPs), 23.3% (166/713) of the rats were positive for anti-HEV IgG, and 8.3% (59/713) were positive for anti-HEV IgM. The IgG-positive rates in Rattus norvegicus, Bandicota indica, Rattus flavipectus, Rattus rattoides losea, and Rattus rattus hainanus, were 27.8% (64/230), 23.0% (40/174), 19.9% (34/171), 21.5% (26/121), and 11.8% (2/17), while the IgM-positive rates were 8.3% (19/230), 6.9% (12/174), 8.2% (14/171), 10.7% (13/121), and 5.9% (1/17), respectively. The IgG-positive rate of the rats captured in rural areas, 24.1% (84/348), was higher than that in the central area of Zhanjiang city, 15.1% (32/212). The highest IgG-positive rates, as high as 45.3% (39/86), were detected in wild rats trapped in the garbage dump. Twelve of the 59 IgM-positive serum samples were positive for HEV RNA, which was detected in all of the wild rat species except R. rattus hainanus. A phylogenetic analysis of the partial genome of rat HEV ORF1 indicated that all of the 12 HEV strains belong to rat HEV, and no other genotype HEV were detected. The rat HEV from Zhangjiang city could be classified into three separated clusters, suggesting that the infection due to rat HEV with a variety of genome entities occurs extensively among wild rats in China.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, Center for Diseases Control and Prevention of Guangdong Province, 160 Qunxian Road, Dashi street, Panyu District, Guangzhou 511430, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Dawei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Guan
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: Naokazu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Takaji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wakita
authors.forename: Tian-Cheng
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chang Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Ke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D016679:Genome, Viral; D005838:Genotype; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D051381:Rats; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000821:virology*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D012367:RNA, Viral