Nature Communications (Apr 2025)
Substantial spillover burden of rat hepatitis E virus in humans
- Zihao Chen,
- Lifeng Wang,
- Yongde Zhang,
- Guanghui Li,
- Jiaxiang Yin,
- Jingyan Fan,
- Tianxu Liu,
- Han Wu,
- Yue Huang,
- Wenhui Huang,
- Donglin Liu,
- Xiaoxiang Zheng,
- Xia Zang,
- Xingcheng Huang,
- Liuwei Song,
- Shunhua Wen,
- Jiayu Li,
- Dong Ying,
- Mujin Fang,
- Yingbin Wang,
- Ting Wu,
- Siddharth Sridhar,
- Jun Zhang,
- Ningshao Xia,
- Lin Wang,
- Yihan Lu,
- Zizheng Zheng
Affiliations
- Zihao Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Lifeng Wang
- Menghai County People’s Hospital
- Yongde Zhang
- Menghai County Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- Guanghui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Jiaxiang Yin
- Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Dali University
- Jingyan Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Tianxu Liu
- Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center
- Han Wu
- Department of Epidemiology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety (Fudan University), School of Public Health, Fudan University
- Yue Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Wenhui Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Donglin Liu
- Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- Xiaoxiang Zheng
- Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- Xia Zang
- Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention
- Xingcheng Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Liuwei Song
- Xiamen Innodx Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Xiamen
- Shunhua Wen
- Xiamen Innodx Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Xiamen
- Jiayu Li
- Xiamen Innodx Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Xiamen
- Dong Ying
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Mujin Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Yingbin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Ting Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Siddharth Sridhar
- Department of Microbiology, School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam
- Jun Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Ningshao Xia
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- Lin Wang
- Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center
- Yihan Lu
- Department of Epidemiology, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Public Health Safety (Fudan University), School of Public Health, Fudan University
- Zizheng Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Vaccines for Infectious Diseases, Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, School of Public Health, Xiamen University
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-59345-6
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 16,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 17
Abstract
Abstract The emergence of Rocahepevirus ratti genotype 1 (rat hepatitis E virus; rat HEV) in humans presents an unprecedented threat; however, the risk of rat HEV transmission to humans is not well understood. Here, we report the “Distinguishing Antibody Response Elicitation (DARE)” method, which distinguishes exposure to rat HEV. We use four study sets from China for large-scale population analysis: set 1 (hospital visit) and set 3 (ALT abnormality) from Yunnan province, a biodiversity hotspot, and set 2 (received physical examination) and set 4 (ALT abnormality) from Jiangsu province, a non-hotspot control region. rat HEV exposure risk is significantly higher in Yunnan, with 21.97% (190 of 865) in set 1 and 13.97% (70 of 501) in set 3, compared to 0.75% (9 of 1196) in Jiangsu’s set 2. Six spillover infections for rat HEV are identified in set 1, with one case of abnormal ALT. The rat-1d strains carried by rats are closely related to those human infections. Our study reveals the substantial spillover burden posed by rat HEV in biodiversity hotspots and highlights the utility of DARE method for proactive surveillance of public health emergencies.
