Hepatitis E Virus in Farmed Rabbits, Wild Rabbits and Petting Farm Rabbits in the Netherlands.

Rabbits have been suggested as a zoonotic source of Hepatitis E virus. Phylogenetic analysis of HEV isolates from farmed, wild and pet rabbits in the Netherlands (0, 60, and 23 % respectively) showed them to be grouped amongst published rabbit HEV sequences and distinct from most human isolates. Dutch rabbits are unlikely to be a zoonotic source.