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Author Notes:

Esam I. Azhar, Email: eazhar@kau.edu.sa

S.A.E., V.M.C., C.D., A.Z. and E.I.A. conceptualization; S.A.E., A.M.H., M.M.E., N.A.O., A.M.T., T.A.A. methodology; S.A.E., M.M.E., A.M.H. and E.I.A. supervised the study; S.A.E., M.A., E.F., F.A.E., A.K., Z.A.M., A.Z. and E.I.A. visualization; S.A.E., M.M.E., A.M.H. data analysis; E.I.A. Fund Acquisition; S.A.E., A.Z. and E.I.A. writing the first draft; E.I.A., Facilities; All authors reviewed the manuscript.

The work was supported by the King Fahd Medical Research Center. Sir Prof Alimuddin Zumla, is co-Principal Investigator of the (PANDORA-ID-NET), the Pan-African Network for Rapid Research, Response, Relief and Preparedness for Infectious Disease Epidemics, supported by the EDCTP. He is in receipt of a UK National Institutes of Health Research, Senior Investigator Award and is a Mahathir Foundation Science Award laureate.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Subject:

Research Funding:

King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Keywords:

  • Animals
  • Camelus
  • Coronavirus Infections
  • Genetic Variation
  • Hepatitis E virus
  • Phylogeny
  • Saudi Arabia

Genetic diversity of hepatitis E virus (HEV) in imported and domestic camels in Saudi Arabia

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Journal Title:

Scientific Reports

Volume:

Volume 12, Number 1

Publisher:

, Pages 7005-7005

Type of Work:

Article | Post-print: After Peer Review

Abstract:

Camels gained attention since the discovery of MERS-CoV as intermediary hosts for potentially epidemic zoonotic viruses. DcHEV is a novel zoonotic pathogen associated with camel contact. This study aimed to genetically characterize DcHEV in domestic and imported camels in Saudi Arabia. DcHEV was detected by RT-PCR in serum samples, PCR-positive samples were subjected to sequencing and phylogenetic analyses. DcHEV was detected in 1.77% of samples with higher positivity in domestic DCs. All positive imported dromedaries were from Sudan with age declining prevalence. Domestic DcHEV sequences clustered with sequences from Kenya, Somalia, and UAE while imported sequences clustered with one DcHEV isolate from UAE and both sequences clustered away from isolates reported from Pakistan. Full-genome sequences showed 24 amino acid difference with reference sequences. Our results confirm the detection of DcHEV in domestic and imported DCs. Further investigations are needed in human and camel populations to identify DcHEV potential zoonosis threat.

Copyright information:

© The Author(s) 2022

This is an Open Access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/rdf).
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