Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
First description of hepatitis E virus in Australian rabbits.
- Journal:
- Australian veterinary journal
- Year:
- 2021
- Authors:
- Jenckel, M et al.
- Affiliation:
- Health and Biosecurity · Australia
- Species:
- rabbit
Abstract
We report the first detection of hepatitis E virus in rabbits in Australia. While conducting metatranscriptomic sequencing of liver samples collected from domestic rabbits that had died, we detected hepatitis E virus in three samples. Two viral genome sequences were obtained, which shared 96% nucleotide identity and clustered with hepatitis E strains isolated from rabbits and humans in Europe. This raises a potential public health risk in Australia, as the abundance of wild rabbits and the increasing popularity of domestic rabbits as pets represent a substantial human/rabbit interface to allow for potential zoonotic infections to occur.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33904188/