Hepatitis E virus detected from Chinese laboratory ferrets and farmed mink.

A novel genotype of hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been discovered in ferrets and mink worldwide. However, the situation in China is unknown. Diverse HEV RNA belonging to HEV genotype C2 was detected in this study from 17.5% (18/103) of the laboratory ferrets and 1.9% (2/107) of farmed mink in China. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the ferret HEV strains clustered into three groups with known strains detected from the United States and the Netherlands. Attempted transmission of ferret HEV to two rabbits was not successful. This study confirmed that the C2 genotype of HEV is circulating in China and succeeded in infecting laboratory ferrets with this genotype of HEV. Further studies are required to determine whether the C2 genotype of HEV can infect humans.