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We tested laboratory rabbits from 2 US vendors for antibodies against hepatitis E virus (HEV); Seroprevalences were 40% and 50%. Retrospective analysis of an ocular herpes simplex 1 experiment demonstrated that HEV seropositivity had no effect on experiment outcome. HEV probably is widespread in research rabbits, but effects on research remain unknown.H epatitis E virus (HEV) is a single-stranded RNA virus in the family Hepeviridae (1). HEV is transmitted through the fecal-oral and bloodborne routes and typically causes transient hepatitis; however, such infections can be fatal, especially in pregnant women (20% mortality rate) and in immunocompromised persons (2,3).HEV has 4 genotypes, and genotypes 3 and 4 are found in humans and other animals (1). The genomic sequence of US rabbit HEV (GenBank accession no. JX565469) has been analyzed and the sequence places rabbit HEV as a distant member of the zoonotic HEV genotype 3 (4). A study in France found HEV in farmed and wild rabbits and characterized a closely related human strain of HEV (5). Although HEV has been detected in rabbits from Asian and European counties, researchers previously thought that HEV was not a major presence in rabbits in the United States (5-7). A recent study identified a 36% prevalence of HEV antibodies in animals on 2 rabbit farms in Virginia (1).Because HEV may be a confounding factor in research and is a potential zoonotic pathogen (5), we tested rabbits from 2 US suppliers for HEV seroprevalence. Supplier A was a local conventional rabbit farm, and supplier B was a commercial vendor of specific pathogen free (SPF) research rabbits. Our hypothesis was 3-fold: 1)HEV is a possibly undiagnosed pathogen in laboratory rabbits, 2) HEV seroprevalence is unlikely in rabbits from supplier B (a SPF supplier), and 3) HEV seroprevalence might confound research. To investigate the latter hypothesis, we retrospectively analyzed records from a subset of animals used in a herpes simplex 1 virus (HSV-1) research project. The Study Animals

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