The first evidence of zoonotic hepatitis E virus (HEV) exposure in domestic cats in Türkiye.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection as a zoonotic disease virus has been thoroughly investigated in pigs around the world, but there have been few studies in pet animals. Although molecular and serological evidence suggests that numerous other animal species may act as HEV hosts in industrialized countries, domestic pigs and wild boars are the main reservoirs of HEV genotypes 3 and 4 for human infections. In this study, the sera of 91 household cats from Türkiye were studied by using serological (new generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA)) and molecular methods.