Prevalence of antibody to hepatitis E virus among rodents in the United States

The recent identification of antibody to hepatitis E virus (HEV) in pigs, s heep, and cattle and characterization of an HEV isolated from domestic pigs suggest animal reservoirs for this virus. To investigate whether rodents m ight be a natural reservoir of HEV, the prevalence of anti-HEV was determin ed among a variety of species throughout the United States, Serum samples w ere obtained from 806 rodents of 26 species in 15 genera, Anti-HEV prevalen ce was assessed by 2 EIAs (mosaic protein- and 55-kDa protein-based), which gave concordant results. The highest prevalence of antibody was found in t he genus Rattus (59.7%; 166/278), Overall, rodents from urban habitats had a significantly higher prevalence of anti-HEV than did animals captured fro m rural areas, A high prevalence of anti-HEV was found in animals captured on mainland versus barrier islands. The results from this study provide con vincing evidence of widespread HEV or HEV-like infection in rodents of the United States.