Hepatitis E

A rare form of liver inflammation caused by infection with the hepatitis E virus (HEV). It is transmitted via food or drink handled by an infected person, or through infected water supplies in areas where fecal matter may get into the water. Hepatitis E is more common in tropical and subtropical regions of the world than in the United States and Canada. It causes substantial fatality in pregnant women. There is currently no vaccine or treatment for hepatitis E, although anti- viral drugs may be tried.

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hepatitis E -'ē n a hepatitis that is rare in the U.S. but is common in some third-world countries, is usu. contracted from sewage-contaminated water, and is caused by a highly variable single-stranded RNA virus (species Hepatitis E virus) of uncertain taxonomic affinities but related to members of the family Caliciviridae

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a type of viral hepatitis caused by exposure to hepatitis E virus, transmitted by the fecal-oral route, usually via contaminated water. It is endemic in many tropical regions and in India and China. The incubation period is 15 to 60 days, and there is a prodromal phase. Chronic infection does not occur, but acute hepatitis may be fatal in pregnant women. Called also enterically transmitted non-A, non-B h. and ET-NANB h.