In 1988, Alter confirmed the virus by verifying its presence in a panel of NANBH specimens.
Leta 1987 so Michael Houghton, Qui-Lim Choo in George Kuo, sodelavci korporacije Chiron, v sodelovanju z dr DW Bradleyem, sodelavcem Centra za nadzor in preprečevanje bolezni na osnovi najnovejše metode molekularnega kloniranja identificirali neznani organizem in razvili zanj diagnostični test.