Infections with the hepatitis E virus (HEV) are one of the main causes of acute viral hepatitis worldwide. An international team of experts headed up by the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut investigated the question of how reliably HEV reference laboratories in Europe and North America can carry out HEV molecular typing. Twenty-five labs took part in the study, during which 93% of the samples were assigned to the correct genotype and 81% to the correct subtype. At the same time, gaps and deficiencies in individual laboratories as well as potential areas for method optimisation were identified. Clinical Chemistry reported on the results in its online edition from December 30, 2021.