An outbreak of an acute sporadic viral hepatitis occurring at three villages in the lower Shebli region of southern Somalia was studied. Sera were examined for antibodies to hepatitis E virus (HEV) antigen by a recently developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The prevalence of anti-HEV ranged from 77.8% to 94.0% among the three villages. Anti-HEV prevalence did not differ significantly with age or sex. HEV infections were widely distributed among all age groups, without a preponderance in any specific age category. Overall, 97.6% of afflicted patients who were examined 6-10 days after onset of jaundice developed either IgM or IgG anti-HEV.