Infection with an unusual variant of the hepatitis E virus was detected for the first time in Germany. This variant mainly occurs in mice and is therefore called mouse hepatitis.
This case has now been revealed after scientists examined more than 3,000 samples of patients with immune system disorders from 2022 to 2024. He was affected. Study According to a man between 50 and 60 years old. The virus variant that researchers found in him was similar to one previously detected in wild mice in Berlin.
When infection is discovered, patients show typical symptoms of hepatitis such as elevated liver enzymes. About 6 weeks later the values returned to normal. A year later, the hepatitis E test came back negative.
How do mice get hepatitis E infected?
How the man became infected and whether he had direct contact with rats or their droppings remains unclear. With the common HEV variant (Paslahepevirus balayani) People usually become infected if they do not heat pork or game meat enough. There are around 4,000 such cases every year in Germany.
Now about the mouse variant of hepatitis E (Ratti virus Rocahepe). “The results show that mouse HEV should be considered a new zoonotic pathogen in Germany and Central Europe,” said Professor Reimar Johne, head of the Viruses in Food specialist group at the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Zoonotic pathogens are pathogens that can be transmitted from animals to humans, such as: Eg coronavirus or rabies.
How to recognize hepatitis E infection?
The hepatitis virus can cause inflammation of the liver. However, many hepatitis E infections are mild and asymptomatic, explains the Robert Koch Institute. Many of the symptoms are also non-specific and flu-like. For example, you feel tired, have a fever, feel sick or suffer from an illness stomach ache. Notable signs of hepatitis infection include jaundice, dark urine, and yellow-gray stools.
What helps hepatitis E infection in mice?
Most people do not need any special therapy, especially if they have a healthy immune system. Often only the symptoms are like that Fever or nausea is treated and the infection goes away on its own. Weak person immune systemHowever, for example after an organ transplant or during chemotherapy, chronic liver inflammation and liver cirrhosis can occur. Therefore, recovery in these patients should be monitored and therapy should be adjusted depending on the course of the disease. In contrast to other hepatitis viruses, there is no approved vaccination against hepatitis E in Germany.
