[Cloning and sequencing of cDNA of the hepatitis E virus genome--application to diagnosis]

Hepatitis E is endemic, often provoking epidemics in many developing countries. The hepatitis E virus has been molecularly cloned and sequenced and has a single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genome, 7,194 nucleotides, followed by a poly(A) tail. There are three open reading frames. The non-structural gene, approximately 5 kb, is located at the 5' end, while the structural gene, approximately 2 kb, is located at the 3' end of the genome. There is low level nucleotide variation among hepatitis E virus strains isolated from Myanmar and China.