Hepatitis E virus infection in European brown hares, Germany, 2007-2014

Corman, Victor, Max; Hilgensloh, Laura; Voigt, Ulrich; Marklewitz, Marco; Siebert, Ursula; Drosten, Christian; Drexler, Jan, Felix

doi:10.3201/eid2506.181618

Published

Hepatitis E virus infection in European brown hares, Germany, 2007-2014

Corman, Victor Max; Hilgensloh, Laura; Voigt, Ulrich ; Marklewitz, Marco ; Siebert, Ursula ; Drosten, Christian; Drexler, Jan Felix

Rabbit-associated hepatitis E viruses (HEVs) cause zoonotic infections. We investigated 2,389 hares in Germany during 2007-2014. Complete genome characterization of a hare-associated HEV strain revealed close genomic relatedness to rabbit-associated HEV strains. Although hare-specific HEV seroprevalence was low, at 2.6%, hares represent a potential source of sporadic HEV infections.