Development and Characterization of a Genotype 4 Hepatitis E Virus Cell Culture System Using a HE-JF5/15F Strain Recovered from a Fulminant Hepatitis Patient

We developed an efficient cell culture system for genotype 4 hepatitis E virus using the HE-JF5/15F strain recovered from a fulminant hepatitis patient. The sixth-passage virus in the culture supernatant reached 1.5 x 108 copies/ml at 10 days postinoculation and possessed 10 nucleotide mutations with four amino acid changes.