Hepatitis E is a viral disease that, in the case of the human strain, affects the liver and causes symptoms such as jaundice ( yellowing of the skin and mucosa due to an increase in bilirubin in the blood ), fatigue, fever, vomiting or abdominal pain. It is usually spread through the intake of contaminated water and each year affects about 20 million people around the world according to the World Health Organization. The first known case of a man affected by rat hepatitis E , a different strain that was believed to be unable to affect humans, has recently been discovered.
A Hong Kong man has been the world’s first known human case of hepatitis E infection from rats. The 56-year-old subject had just received a liver transplant derived from a chronic hepatitis B infection , but the abnormal function did not cease and for this reason his case was admitted and studied. Experts from the University of Hong Kong found signs of an immune response to hepatitis E, but tests for the human strain of the virus came back negative . The genetic sequence of the virus was found to be “highly divergent” from the human strain and very similar to hepatitis E in rats as reported by the University of Hong Kong.
The patient received an antiviral treatment and improves favorably , but now it is studied how he could have been infected. The most likely theory is that it did so through food infected by rat droppings, since the patient lived in an area with signs of rat infestation in the vicinity of his home. The presence of these rodents in the Chinese city has spread in recent months due to the hot and humid climate in the area .
Although about 60% of emerging infectious diseases originate in animals , previous experiments suggested that rat hepatitis E could not be transmitted to apes, nor could human hepatitis A virus be transmitted to rats. The closeness between primates and humans when it comes to disease susceptibility led to an underestimation of the risk of contagion of hepatitis E from rats. The latest discoveries have led authorities and researchers to alert the population of the ” danger to public health ” it poses. The first measures suggested by the researchers focus on limiting the rat population and ensuring that there are no food debris in the garbage that they can feed on.
