| evidence for widespread infection of wild rats with hepatitis e virus in the united states. | hepatitis e is an important medical pathogen in many developing countries but is rarely reported from the united states, although antibody to hepatitis e virus (anti-hev) is found in > 1% of u.s. citizens. zoonotic spread of the virus is suspected. sera obtained from 239 wild rats trapped in widely separated regions of the united states were tested for anti-hev. seventy-seven percent of rats from maryland, 90% from hawaii, and 44% from louisiana were seropositive for anti-hev. rats from urban as ... | 1999 | 10463689 |