High sensitivity of domestic pigs to intravenous infection with HEV

Background Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one major cause of acute clinical hepatitis among humans throughout the world. In industrialized countries an increasing number of autochthonous HEV infections have been identified over the last years triggered by food borne as well as – to a much lower degree – by human to human transmission via blood transfusion. Pigs have been recognised as main reservoir for HEV genotype 3 (HEV-3), and zoonotic transmission to humans through undercooked/raw meat is reported repeatedly. The minimal infectious dose of HEV-3 for pigs is so far unknown.