Surveillance of swine hepatitis E virus (HEV) in Eastern Indonesia has not been previously conducted. Tana Toraja Regency, a major pig-farming area in Sulawesi, is characterized by close human–pig interactions that may facilitate zoonotic transmission. In January 2024, 100 pig fecal samples were collected from 14 smallholder farms and pooled by farm, resulting in 14 pooled samples. HEV detection was performed using reverse transcription-nested PCR targeting the ORF2 and ORF1 methyltransferase (MeT) regions. HEV was identified in two farms (14.3%). Phylogenetic and pairwise alignment analyses classified the Tana Toraja HEV strains as subtype 3b, showing the highest similarity to human-derived HEV isolates from Japan. Sequence analysis further revealed a novel single nucleotide variant leading to an A83T amino acid substitution in the ORF1 MeT gene, which was predicted to be deleterious. This study provides the first evidence of swine HEV occurrence in Eastern Indonesia and highlights its potential zoonotic risks.

To Cite This Article: Rizaldi DA, Poetri ON, Novianto D, Tumanan L and Handharyani E, 2025. First report of zoonotic hepatitis E virus (HEV-3b) in toraja pigs, Indonesia, with a novel variant. Pak Vet J. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2025.287