Uncovering the evolutionary origins of the hepatitis E virus

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An international team of virologists, mammalian ecologists and zoologists has uncovered the evolutionary origins of the hepatitis E virus. In their study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group analyzed genomic data for multiple viral hosts.

Hepatitis is any condition involving inflammation in the liver. There are a large variety of causes, one of which can be a virus. There are several types of viral hepatitis denoted by the letters A through E, as well as Epstein Barr and cytomegalovirus. Hepatitis C is the most common and is typically chronic. Hepatitis E is most prevalent in Asia and is typically acute—it kills approximately 44,000 people each year out of 20 million infections.

Prior research has shown that the hepatitis E virus has eight genotypes; only types one and two have been detected in human patients—all the others have been found in animals including camels, pigs, rodents and rabbits. In this new effort, the researchers focused their attention and efforts on the evolutionary origins of hepatitis E.

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