Hepatitis E Virus: First Description in a Pet House Rabbit. A New Transmission Route for Human?

Abstract

In this work, we identified for the first time hepatitis E virus (HEV) in a pet house rabbit, an adult 7 years old female of domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Importantly, the resulting phylogenetic tree showed that the HEV strain identified in the pet house rabbit was closely related to a human HEV sequence; this finding reawakens concerns regarding the zoonotic risk represented by HEV in animals and expands to house rabbit the spectrum of potential source of infection for humans. Potential for domestic transmission of HEV to humans should be taken into account.

Hepatitis E vaccine immunization for rabbits to prevent animal HEV infection and zoonotic transmission

“…The fact that rabbits can be experimentally infected by sHEV-4 [40] or human HEV-4 [41] and that rHEV is transmissible from rabbits to cynomolgus macaques [42] both suggest that rabbits may be a new source of human HEV infection. Interestingly, a HEV strain in rabbits closely related to human HEV strain has been identified in France [36], and recently, a HEV strain closely related to a human HEV sequence was identified for the first time in the pet house rabbit [43]. These findings might shed new light on the potential of zoonotic HEV transmission from rabbits to humans.…”

Zoonotic Hepatitis E Virus: Classification, Animal Reservoirs and Transmission Routes

“…HEV-3 strains have also been detected in different species of deer and in the Japanese mongoose [15,16,17]. In addition, rabbit HEV-3 strains have been identified in farmed rabbits in China [18] and the US [19], in farmed and wild rabbits in France [20] and also in a pet house rabbit [21]. In the Orthohepevirus A species, two other strains of HEV, classified as genotype 5 and 6 (HEV-5 and HEV-6), have also been identified in wild boar in Japan [8,22] and more recently, HEV-7 has been detected in faecal samples from camels [23].…”

Hepatitis E virus in humans, farm animals and animals from the sylvatic environment

“…Króliczy HEV jest genetycznie i antygenowo blisko spokrewniony z wirusami izolowanymi od innych ssaków (70). Wirus wykrywany był zarówno w fermach królików, u zwierząt dziko żyjących, jak i towarzyszących (8). Zakażenie u królików przebiega zwykle bezobjawowo.…”

“…Seroprewalencję określono na poziomie od 15,4% do 57% (12,17,18,40), wskazując na wysoką częstość zakażeń wśród zwierząt z hodowli wielkotowarowych (12,65). Obecność swoistych przeciwciał anty-HEV lub wirusowe RNA wykrywano u królików utrzymywanych jako zwierzęta towarzyszące, sugerując istnienie ryzyka związanego z transmisją wirusa na człowieka (8,15).…”