Jan Felix Drexler

Institute of Virology, University of Bonn

Zoonotic transmission of HEV

Dalton, Lancet ID, 2008

Purcell, J Hepatol, 2008

Hepatitis E virus: The only hepatitis virus with a known zoonotic reservoir

Dalton, Lancet ID, 2008

HEV: 4 genotypes

Gt 3 and 4 in humans,

swine, deer, rabbits…

Family Hepeviridae: Also contains avian and rodent viruses

Virus taxonomy, 9th ed.

HEV and bats? 3,869 fecal, blood and liver specimens from

85 bat species and 5 continents

Consensus primers for hemi-nested RT-PCR targeting the Hepeviridae RdRp

Vampyrodes caraccioli

Hipposideros abae

Eptesicus serotinus

Myotis bechsteinii

Myotis daubentonii

…7 (0.18%) positive bats 5 species 3 continents

…covering major bat evolutionary lineages.

Pathogenicity? Likely hepatic tropism in one E. serotinus

Despite host and geographic diversity: bat hepeviruses formed one monophyletic clade

Full genome amplification from clinical specimen confirmed Hepeviridae classification

„Bats, the great natural reservoir for viruses.“

CID, 2007

Science, 2005

No cross-recognition of human HEV antigens by bat sera…

Testing of ca. 90,000 human blood donations from Germany sampled 2009-2010 (GfE Blut) –

no bat-related hepevirus…

…but geographical clustering of pig and human Gt3 HEV

Corman et al., Vox sang, 2012

…as in a simultaneous study from Germany

Dreier et al, JCM, 2012

HEV sequences from German

donors sampled 2011:

Clustering with pig and human

strains from Germany and the

Netherlands

…and a preceding one.

„Closest sequence match between an HEV strain from a wild boar and samples 6 and

7 from German donors.“

Should risk groups such as hunters, butchers or abattoir workers be specifically screened for HEV infection?

The association of animal hosts and hepevirus lineage is very strict…

…peridomestic animal viruses closely related to human HEV:

secondary acquisitions

from humans?

Dalton, LID, 2008

Are there „original“ swine / deer... viruses?

Virus ecology group, Bonn Annika Seelen Victor Corman Monika Eschbach-Bludau Sebastian Brünink Christian Drosten…

Molecular Virology Marcel Müller Doreen Muth

Field work Florian Gloza-Rausch Antje Seebens Peter Vallo

CIRMF, Gabon Eric Leroy

Veterinary Medicine, Brazil Roberto Franke

Pathology, Bonn Reinhard Büttner

Chumakov Institute, Russia Alexander Lukashev Ecology, Ulm

Elisabeth Kalko Stefan Klose Veronika Cottontail Marco Tschapka

KCCR, Ghana, Augustina Annan Samuel Oppong

Virology, TiHo Hannover Georg Herrler Andrea Rasche

Virology, Marburg Andrea Maisner

RIVM, Netherlands Chantal Reusken

Virology, Berlin Detlef Krüger

FLI, Germany Rainer Ulrich

Bernhard Nocht Institut, HH Thomas Kruppa Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit