IMR Press / FBL / Volume 13 / Issue 18 / DOI: 10.2741/3219

Frontiers in Bioscience-Landmark (FBL) is published by IMR Press from Volume 26 Issue 5 (2021). Previous articles were published by another publisher on a subscription basis, and they are hosted by IMR Press on imrpress.com as a courtesy and upon agreement with Frontiers in Bioscience.

Article
Hepatitis E: a curious zoonosis
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1 UMR 1161 Virologie AFSSA LERPAZ-ENVA-INRA, Ecole Nationale Véterinaire d’Alfort, 7 Ave du Genéral de Gaulle, 94704 Maisons-Alfort cedex, France
2 Unité d’hepato-gastroenterologie, CHG Hyeres, Ave du Marechal Juin, 83400 Hyeres, France

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

 

Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2008, 13(18), 7172–7183; https://doi.org/10.2741/3219
Published: 1 May 2008
Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is responsible for large waterborne epidemics of acute hepatitis in endemic regions and for sporadic autochthonous cases in non endemic regions. Although the water vector has been thoroughly documented in endemic regions, very little is known about the modes of contamination occurring in non endemic regions. Unlike the other hepatitis viruses, HEV has an animal reservoir. Several lines of evidence, such as the results of phylogenic analysis and studies on direct contamination via infected food products, have suggested that some cases of animal to human transmission occur. However, all the possible sources of human contamination in non endemic areas have not yet been defined, and this point needs to be investigated. The high genetic variability of HEV, which might be an important factor, involved in zoonotic contamination processes, also needs a surveillance plan.

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