Detection and Characterization of Homologues of Human Hepatitis Viruses and Pegiviruses in Rodents and Bats in Vietnam

Van Nguyen, Dung; Van Nguyen, Cuong; Bonsall, David; Ngo, Tue Tri; Carrique-Mas, Juan; Pham, Anh Hong; Bryant, Juliet E.; Thwaites, Guy; Baker, Stephen; Woolhouse, Mark; Simmonds, Peter

The present study reports the findings of pegivirus and human hepatitis-related viruses in Vietnamese rodents and bats. The detection of hepacivirus, HEV homologue and pegivirus in a number of rodent species, and HBV homologue in Hipposideros larvatus indicates wider host ranges of these viruses. Whereas, the identified rat HEV and bat HBV showed relatively high sequence identity to previously characterized viruses infecting Rattus rattus, Rattus tanezumi and Hipposideros pomona, the rodent pegivirus and hepacivirus showed substantial sequence distances to their closest sequences and represent new pegivirus variants and a new hepacivirus species. This highlights the incomplete genetic characterization of these viruses. Thus far, only one complete genome and two complete coding sequences (including the one from this study) of rodent pegivirus are available on Genbank. More highly divergent hepacivirus and pegivirus sequences are expected to be discovered from rodents in future studies.