MicrobeWorld

About 2% of the world’s population is chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). This enveloped, positive-strand RNA virus was discovered in 1989, but serological and phylogenetic evidence indicates that it has been infecting humans for hundreds of years, perhaps as long ago as the 14th century. All human viral infections most likely originated in non-human species, but the progenitor of HCV is not known. Recent evidence suggests that horses might have been the source of HCV in humans.