José-Manuel Echevarría commented on an older version of "Hepatitis E virus":

Hepatitis E virus Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the infective organism that causes hepatitis E. The viral particles are 27 to 34 nanometers in diameter, are non-enveloped and contain a single-strand of positive-sense RNA that is approximately 7300 bases in length. The virus particle was first visualised in 1983[1] but was only molecularly cloned in 1990.[2] HEV was previously classified in the Caliciviridae family. However, its genome more closely resembles the rubella virus. It is now classified within the genus Hepevirus in the Hepeviridae family.[3] Such family includes separate lineages of viruses infecting birds (avian HEV) and mammals. Phylogenetic trees performed with HEV strains isolated worldwide draw four main evolutionary lineages, which represent four viral genotypes [4]. Genotypes 1 and 2 are responsible for epidemics in tropical areas from Asia, Africa and America and have just been found among humans. Genotypes 3 and 4 have never been involved in epidemics and infect other mammals like swine and bovine livestock, wild boar and deer. HEV strains isolated from rabbit might constitute a fifth genotype [5], and strains from rats are considered from a different lineage [6]. References 1. Balayan MS, Andjaparidze AG, Savinskaya SS, et al. (1983). "Evidence for a virus in non-A, non-B hepatitis transmitted via the fecal-oral route". Intervirology 20 (1): 23–31. doi:10.1159/000149370. PMID 6409836. 2. Reyes GR, Purdy MA, Kim JP, et al. (1990). "Isolation of a cDNA from the virus responsible for enterically transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis". Science 247 (4948): 1335–9. doi:10.1126/science.2107574. PMID 2107574. 3. "ICTV Virus Taxonomy: 2009 release". http://ictvonline.org/virusTaxonomy.asp?version=2009. Retrieved 2011-12-02. 4. Mushahwar IK (2008). Hepatitis E virus: molecular virology, clinical features, diagnosis, transmission, epidemiology and prevention. J Med Virol 80:646-658. 5. Zhao C, Ma Z, Harrison TJ et al (2009). A novel genotype of hepatitis E virus prevalent among farmed rabbits in China. J Med Virol 81:1371-1379. 6. Johne R, Plenge-Bönig A, Hess M et al. (2010). Detection of a novel hepatitis E-like virus in faeces of wild rats using a nested broad-spectrum RT-PCR. J Gen Virol 91:750-758.

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