title: Hepeviridae: an expanding family of vertebrate viruses.
abstract: The hepatitis E virus (HEV) was first identified in 1990, although hepatitis E-like diseases in humans have been recorded for a long time dating back to the 18th century. The HEV genotypes 1-4 have been subsequently detected in human hepatitis E cases with different geographical distribution and different modes of transmission. Genotypes 3 and 4 have been identified in parallel in pigs, wild boars and other animal species and their zoonotic potential has been confirmed. Until 2010, these genotypes along with avian HEV strains infecting chicken were the only known representatives of the family Hepeviridae. Thereafter, additional HEV-related viruses have been detected in wild boars, distinct HEV-like viruses were identified in rats, rabbit, ferret, mink, fox, bats and moose, and a distantly related agent was described from closely related salmonid fish. This review summarizes the characteristics of the so far known HEV-like viruses, their phylogenetic relationship, host association and proposed involvement in diseases. Based on the reviewed knowledge, a suggestion for a new taxonomic grouping scheme of the viruses within the family Hepeviridae is presented.
authors: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany.
authors: Reimar
authors: R
authors: Johne
authors: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute for Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany.
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Dremsek
authors: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Berlin, Germany.
authors: Jochen
authors: J
authors: Reetz
authors: University of Bern, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Bern, Switzerland; Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, Genopode, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors: Gerald
authors: G
authors: Heckel
authors: Clinic for Poultry and Fish Medicine, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine (Vetmeduni Vienna), Vienna, Austria.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Hess
authors: Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Institute for Novel and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany. Electronic address: rainer.ulrich@fli.bund.de.
authors: Rainer G
authors: RG
authors: Ulrich
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016679:Genome, Viral; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D014714:Vertebrates; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000635:transmission / Q000821:virology*
keywords: Cross-species transmission; Genome organisation; Hepatitis E virus; Hepeviridae; Reservoir