Cases of human rat hepatitis are becoming a growing cause for concern for public health experts. With two reported cases, it now joins the list of diseases that can be transferred from rats to humans.

Human Rat Hepatitis In Hong Kong

Just last September, the first case of human rat hepatitis was reported in a 56-year-old man from Hong Kong who had apparently been living in unhygienic conditions. Upon investigation, it was found that the man was actually living near a garbage chute where rat droppings were found, so it was likely that he got the disease from consuming contaminated food or water.

Because of his reported case, authorities checked whether there were other possible cases of rat hepatitis in humans in recent years, so they scoured the blood tests of the 73 people who tested positive for anti-HEV immunoglobulin but negative for human HEV nucleic acid. Genetic sequencing revealed that the virus detected in another patient, a 70-year-old female, was very similar to the virus found in the first case.

Second Case Of Rat Hepatitis In Humans

Evidently, the woman experienced abdominal pain, palpitations, headache, anorexia, and malaise in May 1, 2017. She was taken to a public hospital on May 4 and was released just days later on May 8. Her blood tests were done on May 5.

Interestingly, the woman also lived in the Wong Tai Sin District, just like the man in the first case. In fact, they lived just about two kilometers apart. However, the woman did not recall having any contact with rodents or rodent droppings, quite unlike the man in the first case who reported seeing rodent droppings in his home.

Furthermore, both patients were considered immunocompromised and so their bodies might have been more easily available for the virus to enter.

Public Health Concerns

Authorities note that more study is needed to fully see the public health implications of the two reported cases, but that they are concerned over the apparent “clustering” of human rat hepatitis cases in 2017 and, as such, are closely monitoring the situation.

For now, they note that preventive measures such as environmental hygiene, rodent control, buying food from reliable sources, cleaning and washing food thoroughly before consumption, and proper handwashing are significant means of preventing foodborne illnesses.