Hepatitis B virus lineages in mammalian hosts: potential for bidirectional cross-species transmission

Abstract

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a cosmopolitan infectious agent currently affecting over 350 million people worldwide, presently accounting for more than two billion infections. In addition to man, other hepatitis virus strains infect species of several mammalian families of the Primates, Rodentia and Chiroptera orders, in addition to birds. The mounting evidence of HBV infection in African, Asian and neotropical primates draws attention to the potential cross-species, zoonotic transmission of these viruses to man. Moreover, recent evidence also suggests the humans may also function as a source of viral infection to other mammals, particularly to domestic animals like poultry and swine. In this review, we list all evidence of HBV and HBV-like infection of nonhuman mammals and discuss their potential roles as donors or recipients of these viruses to humans and to other closely-related species.

Keywords: Cross-species transmission; Hepatitis B; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis B virus nonhuman host.

Figure 1

Geographic distribution of hepatitis B virus hosts. Primates: 1: Pan troglodytes verus; 2: P. t. vellerosus; 3: P. t. troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla gorilla; 4: P. t. schweinfurthii; 5: Hylobates lar; 6: Hylobates moloch; 7: Hylobates pileatus; 8: Hylobates agilis; 9: Nomascus gabriellae; 10: Nomascus leucogenys; 11: Nomascus concolor; 12: Pongo pygmaeus; 13: Papio ursinus; 14: Lagothrix cana; 15: Lagothrix poeppigii; 16: Lagothrix lugens; 17: Lagothrix lagothricha. RODENTIA: 18: Sciurus carolinensis; 19: Marmora monax; 20: Otospermophilus beecheyi; 21: Spermophilus parryii. Chiroptera: 22: Uroderma bilobatum (partial distribution); 23: Hipposideros ruber; 24: Rhinolophus alcyone; 25: Miniopterus fuliginosus. HBV: Hepatitis B virus; ASHV: Arctic squirrel HBV; BtHV: Bat (Miniopterus fuliginosus) hepatitis viruses; chHBV: Chimpanzee HBV; GSHV: Californian ground squirrel HBV; gibHBV: Gibbon HBV; HBV genA: Human HBV genotype A; HBHBV: Horseshoe bat HBV; RBHBV: Roundleaf bat HBV; TBHBV: Tent-making bat HBV; THBV: Tree squirrel HBV; WHV: Woodchuck HBV; WMHBV: Woolly monkey HBV.