Hepatitis E Virus Research in Brazil: Looking Back and Forwards

Abstract

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) has emerged as a public health concern in Brazil. From the first identification and characterization of porcine and human HEV-3 strains in the 2000s, new HEV subtypes have been identified from animal, human, and environmental isolates. As new potential animal reservoirs have emerged, there is a need to compile evidence on the zoonotic dissemination of the virus in animal hosts and the environment. The increasing amount of seroprevalence data on sampled and randomly selected populations must be systematically retrieved, interpreted, and considered under the One Health concept. This review focused on HEV seroprevalence data in distinct animal reservoirs and human populations reported in the last two decades. Furthermore, the expertise with experimental infection models using non-human primates may provide new insights into HEV pathogenesis, prevention, and environmental surveillance.