{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,1]],"date-time":"2026-10-01T05:51:57Z","timestamp":1790833917464,"version":"4.1.0"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.ppat.1012240","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,31]],"date-time":"2024-05-31T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1717113600000}}],"reference-count":22,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,5,20]],"date-time":"2024-05-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1716163200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006928","name":"Ohio State University","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006928","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000060","name":"National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R21AI151736"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R21AI151736"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000060","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plospathogens.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Pathog"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is the leading cause of acute viral hepatitis worldwide. HEV associated pregnancy mortality has been reported as up to 30% in humans. Recent findings suggest HEV may elicit effects directly in the reproductive system with HEV protein found in the testis, viral RNA in semen, and viral replication occurring in placental cell types. Using a natural host model for HEV infection, pigs, we demonstrate infectious HEV within the mature spermatozoa and altered sperm viability from HEV infected pigs. HEV isolated from sperm remained infectious suggesting a potential transmission route via sexual partners. Our findings suggest that HEV should be explored as a possible sexually transmittable disease. 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