Hepatitis E virus (HEV) as an emerging zoonotic pathogen causes a major public health issue. Transmission from domestic, wildlife and zoo animals to human has been widely reported. Whether pets also serve as reservoirs remains an intriguing question. In this study, we found the sero-positive rates of HEV-specific antibodies in pet dogs, cats and horses of 18.52% (30/162), 14.89% (7/47) and 18.18% (4/22) in the Netherlands. Although HEV viral RNA was not detected in these animals, we have demonstrated that dog liver cells are susceptible to HEV infection in vitro. These results call more attention to address the potential role of pets in the zoonotic transmission of HEV.

中文翻译：

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荷兰宠物中的戊型肝炎病毒血清流行以及犬肝细胞对感染的允许性。

戊型肝炎病毒（HEV）作为新兴的人畜共患病原体引起重大的公共卫生问题。从家畜，野生动植物和动物园动物到人类的传播已被广泛报道。宠物是否还充当水库仍然是一个有趣的问题。在这项研究中，我们发现荷兰的宠物犬，猫和马中HEV特异性抗体的血清阳性率分别为18.52％（30/162），14.89％（7/47）和18.18％（4/22） 。尽管在这些动物中未检测到戊型肝炎病毒RNA，但我们已经证明狗肝细胞在体外易受戊型肝炎病毒感染。这些结果引起更多关注，以解决宠物在HEV人畜共患病传播中的潜在作用。