Abstract
Rabbits have been suggested as a zoonotic source of Hepatitis E virus. Phylogenetic analysis of HEV isolates from farmed, wild and pet rabbits in the Netherlands (23, 0, and 60 % respectively) showed them to be grouped amongst published rabbit HEV sequences and distinct from most human isolates. Dutch rabbits are unlikely to be a zoonotic source.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12560-016-9239-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) incidence in the Netherlands seems to be on the rise (Koot et al 2015)
The small number of farmed rabbits sampled in the present study (n = 10) may have contributed to the lack of HEV-positive faecal samples
In a French study in which faeces from 20 groups of ten farmed rabbits were sampled, 13/20 of these groups were negative for HEV RNA (Izopet et al 2012)
Summary
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) incidence in the Netherlands seems to be on the rise (Koot et al 2015). About two-thirds of the acute HEV cases in the Netherlands were suggested to be unrelated to travel to endemic countries (Herremans et al 2007). Domestic pigs have been demonstrated to be a true reservoir (Bouwknegt et al 2008) and seem to be a main source of infection (Van der Poel et al 2001), but other species may play a role (Meng 2010; Rutjes et al 2014). Rabbit HEV isolates were reported to be Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12560-016-9239-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
