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SEROLOGIC EVIDENCE FOR HEPATITIS E VIRUS INFECTION IN MONGOOSE

Although pig and wild boar are considered to be the reservoirs of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Japan, the spread of HEV to other animals is unknown. Serum samples from 84 mongooses (Small Asian mongoose; Herpestes javanicus) collected in Okinawa, Japan were examined for antibodies to HEV by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and RNA was analyzed by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. Seven (8.3%) of 84 mongooses were positive for IgG antibodies to HEV, and the antibody-positive rate increased with body weight and size, whereas HEV RNA was not detected in these samples. These results are consistent with the possibility that mongooses in Okinawa are occasionally infected with HEV; however, they are not considered the major zoonotic reservoir of HEV.

Received November 14, 2005. Accepted for publication January 23, 2006.

Acknowledgments: We thank Tomoko Mizoguchi for secretarial work.

Financial support: This study was supported in part by grants for Research on Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases, Research on Hepatitis, and Research on Food Safety from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, Japan.

^* Address correspondence to Tian-Cheng Li, Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Gakuen 4–7–1, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208–0011, Japan. E-mail: litc{at}nih.go.jp

Authors’ addresses: Tian-Cheng Li, Tatsuo Miyamura, and Naokazu Takeda, Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Gakuen 4–7–1, Musashi-Murayama, Tokyo 208–0011, Japan, Telephone: 81–42–561–0771, Fax: 81–42–561–4729, E-mails: litc{at}nih.go.jp, tmiyam{at}nih.go.jp, and ntakeda{at}nih.go.jp. Mika Saito, Division of Molecular Virology and Oncology, Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, 207 Uehara, Nishihara, Okinawa 903–0215, Japan, Telephone: 81–98–895–1132, Fax: 81–98–895–1410, E-mail: mikas{at}med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp. Go Ogura and Osamu Ishibashi, Laboratory of Subtropical Zoology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of the Ryukyus, 1 Senbaru, Nishihara, Okinawa 903–0213, Japan, Telephone and Fax: 81–98–895–8779, E-mail: ogurago{at}agr.u-ryukyu.ac.jp.

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