Prevalence of Rocahepevirus ratti (rat hepatitis E virus) in humans and rats in China
Building on our previous work finding that <i>Rocahepevirus ratti</i> (rHEV) is a novel cause of sporadic viral hepatitis in humans, we studied rHEV exposures in humans from various epidemiological settings. We found intermittent exposure to rat hepatitis E in individuals living in both urban and rural settings with a markedly higher seroprevalence in the latter. Spillover viremic infections in individuals with underlying liver disease or immunosuppression were closely linked to epizootic rHEV strains circulating in rodents. Physicians and diagnostic laboratories should incorporate rHEV testing in algorithms for viral hepatitis while policymakers should consider rHEV surveillance in rodents to guide disinfestation efforts.
Authors
- Huijun Cai
- Shiyao Huang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1094-9602)
- Fanfan Xing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8233-5127)
- Yongxian Su (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9039-459X)
- Siddharth Sridhar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2022-8307)
- Kelvin Hon-Yin Lo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0396-0747)
- Nicholas Foo‐Siong Chew (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9479-1493)
- Estie Hon-Kiu Shun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5112-2276)
- Feifei Yin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6195-0614)
- Vincent Chi‐Chung Cheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1765-7706)
- Dongzhui Chen
- Yonghao Liang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1414-1256)
- James Yiu-Hung Tsoi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0045-637X)
- Jasper Fuk‐Woo Chan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6336-6657)
- Chaowen Deng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7247-6540)
- Sara Ho (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5276-9249)
- Xiuji Cui
- Jianwen Situ
- Kwok‐Yung Yuen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2083-1552)
- Simon K. Lo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6880-2403)
- Yunchun Chen
- Zhiyu Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7320-8983)
- Sheng Zeng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0159-3808)
- Ting Tang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5952-4023)
- Shusheng Wu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8280-2960)
- H. P. Chung (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4362-5997)
- T. N. Wong
- Liyuan Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-7671-8143)
Institutions
- Jinan University (CN)
- Queen Mary Hospital (CN)
- Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HK)
- Guangzhou Experimental Station (CN)
- University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital (CN)
- Hainan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN)
- Hainan Medical University (CN)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JHEP Reports
- Published
- 2025-03-05
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2025.101370
- Citations
- 8
- Primary Topic
- Hepatitis Viruses Studies and Epidemiology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 10.58
Funders
- National Natural Science Foundation of China
- Innovation and Technology Commission
- Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province
- Food and Health Bureau
- Key Research and Development Project of Hainan Province
- Health and Medical Research Fund