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Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection has a worldwide distribution and represents an important cause of acute hepatitis. Data on rabbit HEV prevalence and genetic divirsity in hyperendemic regions (Egypt) are limited, per the information on rabbit HEV's implications for human pathology. Aim: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of HEV infection in farmed rabbits from hyperendemic (Egypt) regions, as well as to examine the genetic relatedness of rabbit strains to human strains isolated in these regions. Methods: Anti-HEV was tested by ELISA from 164 serum samples isolated from rabbits in Egypt. HEV RNA was tested using reverse transcription of a nested polymerase chain reaction with degenerative primers to open reading frames 2 in feces samples from 355 farmed rabbits from Egypt (3 farms from different regions). Results: All of the animals were between the ages of 2 and 24 months. Age groups at various governorates, with the bulk of infections occurring between the ages of 2 and 12 months. HEV RNA prevalence in rabbits at the age between 2 and 12 months was varied in different governorates from 13.40%, 18.20%, and 32.10% in Qena, Luxor, and Assiut, respectively. While at the age between 12 and 24 months, HEV RNA prevalence in rabbits was 0.0%, 3.70%, and 4.30% in Assiut, Qena, and Luxor, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis did not reveal any relatedness of rabbit HEV strains neither to HEV genetype 3 sequences from patients with autechthenous hepatitis E in Egypt. Conclusion: HEV is prevalent in rabbits from Egypt with other rabbit strains belonging to species-specific group which is close to genotype 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) play a crucial role in the context of viral infections and their associated diseases. The link between HSCs and HPCs and disease status in COVID -19 patients is largely unknown. This study aimed to monitor the kinetics and contributions of HSCs and HPCs in severe and non-severe COVID -19 patients and to evaluate their diagnostic performance in differentiating between healthy and COVID-19 patients as well as severe and non-severe cases. Peripheral blood (PB) samples were collected from 48 COVID-19 patients, 16 recovered, and 27 healthy controls and subjected to deep flow cytometric analysis to determine HSCs and progenitor cells. Their diagnostic value and correlation with C-reactive protein (CRP), D-dimer, and ferritin levels were determined. The percentages of HSCs and common myeloid progenitors (CMPs) declined significantly, while the percentage of multipotent progenitors (MPPs) increased significantly in COVID-19 patients. There were no significant differences in the percentages of megakaryocyte-erythroid progenitors (MEPs) and granulocyte-macrophage progenitors (GMPs) between all groups. Severe COVID-19 patients had a significantly low percentage of HSCs, CMPs, and GMPs compared to non-severe cases. Contrarily, the levels of CRP, D-dimer, and ferritin increased significantly in severe COVID-19 patients. MPPs and CMPs showed excellent diagnostic performance in distinguishing COVID-19 patients from healthy controls and severe from non-severe COVID-19 patients, respectively. Collectively, our study indicated that hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells are significantly altered by COVID-19 and could be used as therapeutic targets and diagnostic biomarkers for severe COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]