In recent years, hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been detected in some species of animals. In this study, we found HBV-like nucleotide sequences in murine rodents and Asian house shrews ( Suncus murinus ) collected in China. A total of 801 animals were trapped. We found that 0.48% (3/624) of the murine rodents and 1.69% (3/177) of Asian house shrews were positive for HBV-like DNA. Detection of HBV-like DNA in brown rats ( Rattus norvegicus ), rice-field rat ( Rattus losea ), and Asian house shrews indicated that these species of animals might be hosts for HBV. However, none of the HBV-like DNA-positive animals was additionally positive for anti-HBV antibodies or hepatitis B surface antigen. A 585 bp nucleic acid sequence, mapping to a hepadnavirus, was extracted from rice-field rat, and bores strong resemblance to human HBV genotype B sequences. Further research is required to investigate the hepadnaviruses within the murine rodent and Asian house shrew populations to uncover the origin and zoonotic potential of HBV.
【저자키워드】 Prevalence, zoonotic potential, Asian house shrews, hepadnavirus, murine rodents,