Hepeviridae is a family of viruses. Human, pig, wild boar, sheep, cow, camel, monkey, some rodents, bats and chickens serve as natural hosts. There are two subfamilies with five genera in the family. Diseases associated with this family include: hepatitis; high mortality rate during pregnancy; and avian hepatitis E virus is the cause of hepatitis-splenomegaly (HS) syndrome among chickens.
Taxonomy
The following subfamilies and genera are assigned to the family (-virinae denotes subfamily and -viridae denotes family):
- Orthohepevirinae
- Avihepevirus
- Chirohepevirus
- Paslahepevirus
- Rocahepevirus
- Parahepevirinae
- Piscihepevirus
Structure
Viruses in the family Hepeviridae are non-enveloped, with icosahedral and spherical geometries, and T=1 symmetry. The diameter is around 32–34 . Genomes are linear and non-segmented, around 7.2 in length. The genome has three open reading frames.
Life cycle
Entry into the host cell is achieved by attachment of the virus to host receptors, which mediates clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Replication follows the positive stranded RNA virus replication model. Positive-stranded RNA virus transcription is the method of transcription. Translation takes place by leaky scanning. Human, pig, wild boar, monkey, cow, sheep, camel some rodents, bat and chicken serve as the natural host. Transmission routes are zoonosis and fomite.