Analysis of the full-length genome of hepatitis E virus isolates obtained from wild boars in Japan

Abstract

Two (2·3 %) of 87 wild-caught boars in Japan had detectable hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA. The two boar HEV isolates (wbJTS1 and wbJYG1) obtained in the present study and a previously reported isolate (wbJSG1) whose partial sequence had been determined were sequenced over the entire genome. The wbJSG1, wbJTS1 and wbJYG1 isolates comprised 7225 or 7226 nt, excluding the poly(A) tail, and segregated into genotype 3. They differed by 8·5–11·2 % from each other and by 8·6–18·4 % from 17 reported genotype 3 HEV isolates, including one boar isolate, in the full-length sequence. When compared with 191 reported genotype 3 HEV isolates whose partial sequences were known, these three boar isolates were closer to Japanese isolates than to isolates of non-Japanese origin (89·2±2·6 vs 85·9±2·2 %;P<0·0001). A proportion of wild boars in Japan are infected with markedly heterogeneous HEV strains that are indigenous to Japan and may serve as reservoirs of HEV.