A hepatitis B virus causes chronic infections in equids worldwide
Andrea Rasche, Felix Lehmann, Nora Goldmann, Michael Nagel, Andrés Moreira‐Soto, Daniel Nobach, Ianei de Oliveira Carneiro, Nikolaus Osterrieder, Alex D. Greenwood, Eike Steinmann, Alexander N. Lukashev, Gerhard Schüler, Dieter Glebe, Jan Felix Drexler, Álvaro Aguilar‐Setién, Walid Azab, Augusto Carluccio, Dimo Dietrich, Carlos Roberto Franke, Ignacio García‐Bocanegra, Fernando García‐Lacy, Lara M. Jeworoski, Jörg Jores, Ramona Kepper, Eduardo Martins Netto, Ellis Owusu‐Dabo, Jorge Raimundo Lins Ribas, Christina Roncoroni, Pia L. Roppert, Anton Rusenov, Nikolina Rusenova, Nikolay Sandev, Peter A. Seeber, Anat Shnaiderman‐Torban, Amir Steinman, Birthe Tegtmeyer, Vincenzo Veneziano, M.C. Veronesi, Stephanie Wälter, D. Zapryanova
Abstract
/taurocholate cotransporting polypeptide), suggesting alternative viral entry mechanisms. Both HBV and EqHBV deltavirus pseudotypes infected primary horse hepatocytes in vitro, supporting a broad host range for EqHBV among equids and suggesting that horses might be suitable for EqHBV and HBV infections in vivo. Evolutionary analyses suggested that EqHBV originated in Africa several thousand years ago, commensurate with the domestication of donkeys. In sum, EqHBV naturally infects diverse equids and mimics HBV infection patterns. Equids provide a unique opportunity for preclinical testing of novel therapeutics for CHB and to investigate HBV/HCV interplay upon coinfection.