Hepatitis E Virus, the Uninvited Intruder in Western Kitchens

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) has been known since the early 1980s as a cause of epidemic acute hepatitis of orofecal transmission in developing countries, mostly in Africa and Eastern Asia. In the past years, we have learned that this agent may also be cause of this selflimited clinical picture in Western countries (in Europe, North America, or Japan), and even become chronic in patients with underlying immunodepression, as those HIV infected. For this reason, the European Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (EASLD) has recently released its clinical practice guidelines on HEV infection (EASLD. Clinical Practice Guidelines on HEV Infection. J Hepatol 2018;68:1256-1271).