Tracing the History of Hepatitis E Virus Infection in Mexico: From the Enigmatic Genotype 2 to the Current Disease Situation
Author:
Viera-Segura Oliver1, Calderón-Flores Arturo2, Batún-Alfaro Julio A.2, Fierro Nora A.2ORCID
Affiliation:
1. Laboratorio de Diagnóstico de Enfermedades Emergentes y Reemergentes, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44340, Mexico 2. Departamento de Inmunología, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
Abstract
Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the major cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide. This virus is responsible for waterborne outbreaks in low-income countries and zoonosis transmission in industrialized regions. Initially, considered self-limiting, HEV may also lead to chronic disease, and evidence supports that infection can be considered a systemic disease. In the late 1980s, Mexico became a hot spot in the study of HEV due to one of the first virus outbreaks in Latin America related to enterically transmitted viral non-A, non-B hepatitis. Viral stool particles recovered from Mexican viral hepatitis outbreaks represented the first identification of HEV genotype (Gt) 2 (Gt2) in the world. No new findings of HEV-Gt2 have been reported in the country, whereas this genotype has been found in countries on the African continent. Recent investigations in Mexico have identified other strains (HEV-Gt1 and -Gt3) and a high frequency of anti-HEV antibodies in animal and human populations. Herein, the potential reasons for the disappearance of HEV-Gt2 in Mexico and the advances in the study of HEV in the country are discussed along with challenges in studying this neglected pathogen. These pieces of information are expected to contribute to disease control in the entire Latin American region.
Funder
Dirección General de Apoyo al Personal Académico, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México CONAHCYT SNI
Subject
Virology,Infectious Diseases
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