Experimental African HEV infection in cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis)

Experimental infection with hepatitis E virus (HEV) from Africa has not been investigated. Our purpose was to study hepatitis E produced by HEV from Chad (North Africa) and to analyze the genetic sequence of the HEV obtained after animal passage. An HEV-containing fecal sample from Chad was intravenously inoculated in four cynomolgus macaques. When serum Alanine Amino Transferase (ALT) levels rose, open liver biopsy and bile aspiration were performed. In all the monkeys, an ALT rise occurred 25 to 32 days after inoculation and new anti-HEV was detected by Enzyme Immuno Assay (EIA). Hepatic histopathology was consistent with acute viral hepatitis. HEV was detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in bile (3/4 animals) and feces (2/4 animals) and by imunoelectron microscopy (IEM) in the inoculum and one bile specimen. A genetic variant HEV was identified in one monkey. The Chad HEV produced hepatitis E with pathophysiologic and histopathologic findings similar to those observed with HEV from other geographic origins. A genomic variant HEV population was produced after one passage in a macaque.