First description of hepatitis E virus in Australian rabbits.

We report the first detection of hepatitis E virus in rabbits in Australia. While conducting metatranscriptomic sequencing of liver samples collected from domestic rabbits that had died, we detected hepatitis E virus in three samples. Two viral genome sequences were obtained, which shared 96% nucleotide identity and clustered with hepatitis E strains isolated from rabbits and humans in Europe. This raises a potential public health risk in Australia, as the abundance of wild rabbits and the increasing popularity of domestic rabbits as pets represent a substantial human/rabbit interface to allow for potential zoonotic infections to occur.

Next-generation sequencing of five new avian paramyxoviruses 8 isolates from Kazakhstan indicates a low genetic evolution rate over four decades.

Five avian paramyxoviruses of serotype 8 (APMV-8) were isolated during a study monitoring wild birds in Kazakhstan in 2013 and each was further characterized. The viruses were isolated from three White-fronted geese (Anser albifrons), one Whooper swan (Cygnus cygnus), and one Little stint (Calidris minuta). Before our study, only two complete APMV-8 sequences had been reported worldwide since their discovery in the USA and Japan in the 1970s. We report the complete genome sequences of the newly detected viruses and analyze the genetic evolution of the APMV-8 viruses over four decades.

Experimental Evaluation of Faecal Escherichia coli and Hepatitis E Virus as Biological Indicators of Contacts Between Domestic Pigs and Eurasian Wild Boar.

Domestic pigs and Eurasian wild boar (Sus scrofa) share several important viral and bacterial pathogens. Therefore, direct and indirect contacts between domestic pigs and wild boar present a risk of pathogen spillover and can lead to long-term perpetuation of infection. Biological indicators could be a powerful tool to understand and characterize contacts between wild boar and domestic pigs. Here, faecal Escherichia coli and Hepatitis E virus (HEV) were explored as potential biological indicators under experimental conditions. The data gained in our pilot study suggest that faecal E. coli can be used as biological indicator of contact between wild boar and domestic pig. For HEV, faecal transmission was also confirmed. However, molecular studies on full-genome basis did not reveal markers that would allow tracing of transmission direction. Based on these promising results, future field studies will especially target the practicability of E. coli microbiome molecular typing as surrogate of contacts at the wildlife-livestock interface.