The hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a leading causative agent of acute hepatitis in humans. Zoonotic HEV strains have been isolated from several animal species, including pigs. New HEV variants have been recently isolated from camels in the Middle East. In the present study, fecal samples from fallow deer, formosan deer, alpaca, and guanaco were analyzed for the detection of HEV. One HEV strain was detected from guanaco, a species of camelids. The nucleotide sequence of guanaco HEV was identical to those of deer HEV-3 strains, which implied the cross-species transmission of HEV-3 from deer to guanaco.

• Byung-Joo Park(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Ji-Hyung Yi(Seoul Children’s Grand Park Zoo)
• Hee-Seop Ahn(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Sang-Hoon Han(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Yong-Hyun Kim(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Hyeon-Jeong Go(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Dong-Hwi Kim(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Joong-Bok Lee(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Seung-Yong Park(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Chang-Seon Song(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• Sang-Won Lee(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University)
• In-Soo Choi(Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University) Corresponding Author