TY - JOUR AU - Takahashi, Kazuaki AU - Okamoto, Hiroaki AU - Abe, Natsumi AU - Kawakami, Manri AU - Matsuda, Hiroyuki AU - Mochida, Satoshi AU - Sakugawa, Hiroshi AU - Suginoshita, Yoshiki AU - Watanabe, Seishiro AU - Yamamoto, Kazuhide AU - Miyakawa, Yuzo AU - Mishiro, Shunji T1 - Virulent Strain of Hepatitis E Virus Genotype 3, Japan T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2009 VL - 15 IS - 5 SP - 704 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genotype 3, which usually causes asymptomatic infection in Japan, induced severe hepatitis in 8 patients. To better understand genetic features of HEV associated with increased virulence, we determined the complete or near-complete nucleotide sequences of HEV from these 8 patients and from 5 swine infected with genotype 3 strain swJ19. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the isolates from the 8 patients and the 5 swine grouped separately from the other genotype 3 isolates to create a unique cluster, designated JIO. The human JIO-related viruses encoded 18 amino acids different from those of the other HEV genotype 3 strains. One substitution common to almost all human HEV strains in the JIO cluster was located in the helicase domain (V239A) and may be associated with increased virulence. A zoonotic origin of JIO-related viruses is suspected because the isolates from the 5 swine also possessed the signature V239A substitution in helicase. KW - Zoonoses KW - viruses KW - hepatitis E virus KW - acute hepatitis KW - helicase domain KW - JIO strain KW - severe hepatitis KW - swJ19 strain KW - research KW - Japan DO - 10.3201/eid1505.081100 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/15/5/08-1100_article ER - End of Reference