World's First Human Case Of Rat Hepatitis E Discovered

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World's First Human Case Of Rat Hepatitis E Discovered
Vaishnavi Vaidyanathan

A 56-year-old Hong Kong man has developed the world's first ever human case of the rat version of the hepatitis E virus (HEV),  the University of Hong Kong revealed Thursday night. Warning that the discovery had "major public health significance,” HKU said there had been no previous evidence that the disease could jump from rats to humans.

"This study conclusively proves for the first time in the world that rat HEV can infect humans to cause clinical infection," the university said.

The case emerged at HKU’s teaching hospital, Queen Mary, on May 14, 2017, when a man who had undergone a liver transplant showed persistently abnormal results for liver function tests. Further tests revealed the patient was carrying a species of hepatitis virus that was known to be present only in rats, since the virus was “highly divergent” from the strain that affects humans. HKU researchers who studied the case said the man was living in a housing estate “with evidence of rat infestation in the refuse bins outside his home.”

Read more at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/worlds-first-human-case-of-rat-hepatitis-e-discovered/ar-BBNEPif