Abstract: Rat hepatitis E virus cross-species infection and transmission in pigs
Strains of Rocahepevirus ratti, an emerging hepatitis E virus (HEV), have recently been found to be infectious to humans. Rats are a primary reservoir of the virus; thus, it is referred to as “rat HEV”. Rats are often found on swine farms in close contact with pigs. Our goal was to determine whether swine may serve as a transmission host for zoonotic rat HEV by characterizing an infectious cDNA clone of a zoonotic rat HEV, strain LCK-3110, in vitro and in vivo. RNA transcripts of LCK-3110 were constructed and assessed for their replicative capacity in cell culture and in gnotobiotic pigs. Fecal suspension from rat HEV-positive gnotobiotic pigs was inoculated into conventional pigs co-housed with naïve pigs. Our results demonstrated that capped RNA transcripts of LCK-3110 rat HEV replicated in vitro and successfully infected conventional pigs that transmit the virus to co-housed animals. The infectious clone of rat HEV may afford an opportunity to study the genetic mechanisms of rat HEV cross-species infection and tissue tropism.
Yadav KK, Boley PA, Lee CM, Khatiwada S, Jung K, Laocharoensuk T, Hofstetter J, Wood R, Hanson J, Kenney SP. Rat hepatitis E virus cross-species infection and transmission in pigs. PNAS Nexus. 2024 Jul 1;3(7):pgae259. DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae259. PMID: 39035038; PMCID: PMC11259135.