Surveillance for rat hepatitis E in wastewater networks, Italy.

Authors :: Palombieri A
Di Profio F
Sarchese V
Fruci P
Suffredini E
Martella V
Veneri C
Bonanno Ferraro G
Mancini P
La Rosa G
Di Martino B
Source :: Microbiology spectrum [Microbiol Spectr] 2023 Dec 12; Vol. 11 (6), pp. e0267523. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Oct 18.
Publication Year :: 2023
Abstract: Importance: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection constitutes a significant health problem worldwide. In recent years, in addition to the zoonotic HEV3 and HEV4, emerging highly divergent hepevirus of rat origin (rat HEV [RHEV]) has been associated with human acute and chronic hepatitis. As environmental surveillance can be a complementary tool to explore emerging viruses of human and rodent origin, we investigated the epidemiology and the genetic variability of RHEV targeting 14 wastewater treatment plants in an Italian geographic area considered a hot spot for HEV infection in humans. Our results revealed that RHEV is a significant component of the wastewater microbiota with viral RNA detected in 43.9% of the specimens tested, adding further evidence to the need to investigate more in depth the real burden of RHEV infections in humans.<br />Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.