Detection and characterization of Hepatitis E virus from commercial rabbit livers in Hebei, China

Rabbit hepatitis E virus(HEV) has been reported for years and is thought to have the potential for zoonotic transmission from rabbits to humans. As reported, HEV genotype 3(gt3) is the most prevalent form of HEV in rabbits. To determine the prevalence of HEV in commercial rabbit livers, 176 liver samples were collected from an abattoir in Hebei Province, China.Three(1.7%) samples tested positive for RNA of HEV-ORF2(open reading frames-2). Sequence analysis showed that the three isolates shared high identities with each other(94.08–98.85%). Further analysis showed that all the rabbit strains clustered together in the branch of HEV gt3. Further study by immunohistochemistry(IHC) assays showed that 131(74.4%)liver samples were positive for HEV ORF2 protein. Pathological changes including cell degeneration, inflammatory cell infiltration and bile duct epithelial cell hyperplasia were observed under microscopy. These findings indicated the presence of HEV in commercial livers of rabbits. Additional studies should be conducted to investigate the infectivity of rabbit HEV(rHEV) and the potential risks of zoonotic transmission of rHEV from rabbits to human beings.