Sample collection
Eight wild boar livers (50 mg each) previously found to be positive for HEV-3 by real-time RT-PCR in previous studies (De Sabato et al., 2018a; Di Pasquale et al., 2019; De Sabato et al., 2020a; Pierini et al., 2021) were used in the present study (Table 1). Originally, the livers were obtained from adult wild boars hunted in the region of Lazio (province of Viterbo; North Lazio) in 2016 and 2017 and in the neighbouring region of Umbria (Perugia province) in 2018. RNA was extracted from liver using the Qiamp-Viral mini kit (Qiagen) as previously described (De Sabato et al., 2018b).