Molecular epidemiology of enterovirus 71 in peninsular Malaysia, 1997–2000

Summary. Human enterovirus 71 (EV71) (genus Enterovirus, family Picornaviridae) has been responsible for sporadic cases and outbreaks of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), aseptic meningitis, encephalitis and poliomyelitis-like disease in Europe, the U.S.A., Australia and Asia. Recently, there has been an increase in EV71 activity in the Asia-Pacific region, with many outbreaks of HFMD associated with brainstem encephalitis manifesting as neurogenic pulmonary oedema with a high case fatality rate. In 1997, and again in 2000, EV71 outbreaks occurred in peninsular Malaysia. Variations in VP1 gene sequences have been shown to divide all known EV71 field isolates into three distinct genogroups (A, B and C). Consequently we examined the VP1 gene sequences of 43 EV71 strains isolated in peninsular Malaysia between 1997 and 2000 in order to determine the genogroup prevalence over the period. In this study we show that four subgenogroups (B3, B4, C1 and C2) of EV71 circulated in peninsular Malaysia between 1997 and 2000. Subgenogroups B3, B4 and C1 have been identified as the primary cause of the outbreaks of EV71 in peninsular Malaysia. Subgenogroup C1 also displayed endemic circulation from 1997 to 2000 and subgenogroup C2 was present at a low level during the 1997 outbreak.Received September 6, 2002; accepted January 20, 2003 Published online June 2, 2003     

Genetic diversity of enterovirus 71 isolated from cases of hand,foot and mouth disease in Yokohama City between 1982 and 2000

Summary.  Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is known as one of the major causative agents of hand, foot and mouse disease (HFMD) and is also associated with neurological manifestations such as aseptic meningitis, polio-like paralysis and encephalitis. Recently, large HFMD outbreaks, involving severe neurological complications, have been experienced in Malaysia, Taiwan and some other countries in the Western-Pacific region. To investigate the genetic diversity of EV71 isolates in a single community in Japan, nucleotide sequences of the VP4 region of 52 EV71 isolates in Yokohama City from 1982 to 2000 were determined and the phylogenetic relationship was compared with other referential EV71 strains in Japan and in the world. There were two major genotypes of EV71 in Yokohama City through the 1980’s and 1990’s. Six EV71 isolates in the early 1980’s in Yokohama City were closely related to those from HFMD outbreaks in Japan and from outbreaks of polio-like paralysis in Europe in the 1970’s. During recent HFMD outbreaks in 1997 and 2000, two distinct genotypes of EV71 were co-circulating in Yokohama City as in HFMD outbreaks in Malaysia and Taiwan. However, the genetic diversity of EV71 in Yokohama City was not directly correlated with the severity of HFMD. The results confirmed the circulation of two distinct genotypes of EV71 over the past 20 years in Japan. Received June 25, 2002; accepted September 16, 2002     

Genetic analysis of enterovirus 71 isolated from fatal and non-fatal cases of hand, foot and mouth disease during an epidemic in Taiwan, 1998

A large scale outbreak of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) occurred in Taiwan in 1998, in which more than 80 children died of shock syndrome with pulmonary edema/hemorrhage. Enterovirus 71 was implicated as the cause of this outbreak. In order to understand the virological basis responsible for mortality on this scale, nucleotide sequences of VP1 that is important for serotypic specificity, and the 5'-non-coding region (5'-NCR) that is important for replication efficiency, were analyzed comparatively. Phylogenetic analysis of both VP1 and 5'-NCR of nine EV71 isolates derived from specimens of fatal patients and seven isolates derived from uncomplicated HFMD patients showed that all but one isolate fell into genotype B. The one distinct isolate from a case of uncomplicated HFMD belonged to genotype C that was clustered along with one isolate from Taiwan in 1986. Complete sequence analysis of two selected isolates, one from the spinal cord of a fatal case and one from the vesicle fluid of a patient with mild HFMD, confirmed a high degree (97-100%) of identity in nucleotide sequence throughout the entire genome, except focal regions of 3C and 3'-NCR where the nucleotide homology was 90-91%. The identity of the deduced amino acid sequence in the 3C region that encodes viral proteinase dropped further to 86%, a result of missense mutations at the first nucleotide position of many codons.     

2008至2009年北京地区分离的肠道病毒71型全基因组序列分析

目的了解2008至2009年从北京地区手足口病（HFMD）患儿分离到的肠道病毒71型（EV71）全基因组序列特点（未包括多聚腺苷尾）,以探讨基因序列的改变是否与病毒的致病性有关。方法选取首都儿科研究所病毒研究室2008年分离到的5株EV71毒株和2009年分离到的4株EV71毒株,其中4株来源于重症HFMD患儿（伴高热、持续抽搐及意识丧失等中枢神经系统症状）,5株来源于轻症HFMD患儿。设计覆盖病毒全基因组的10对特异性引物,对9株EV71毒株进行RT-PCR扩增、全基因组序列测定和分析。结果 9株EV71毒株的全基因组长度为7406bp或7405bp,部分毒株在5′UTR存在1处1个碱基的缺失。9株EV71毒株的全基因组核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为96.3%～99.4%和98.2%～99.6%,在VP1区核苷酸和氨基酸同源性分别为96.9%～99.9%和98.3%～100.0%。重症HFMD来源的4株毒株中有3株在VP2蛋白第144位及3D聚合酶（3Dpol）第140和263位同时出现相同的氨基酸变异（T144S、R140K和I263V）,并且在5′UTR区第208和254位同时出现相同的碱基变异（G208A和A254G）。9株EV71毒株的全基因组与C4亚型毒株具有最高的核苷酸同源性,在VP1区为94.3%～95.5%;在3D及3′UTR区与CV-A16/G10的同源性（84.3%～85.0%和89.0%～91.5%）高于与EV71-B型、A型及C型（C1～3、C5）的同源性。VP1和3D基因的遗传进化分析显示,9株EV71毒株与C4亚型毒株属同一分支。结论 VP2蛋白第144位氨基酸突变（T→S）、3Dpol第140和263位氨基酸突变（R→K和I→V）及5′UTR区第254位碱基突变（A→G）可能与EV71感染后引起的不同临床症状有关。根据VP1核苷酸序列,2008至2009年北京地区流行的EV71属于C4亚型;非结构蛋白基因在EV71进化中可能有一定的作用。     

Phylogenetic analysis of the VP1 gene of Enterovirus 71 in Guangzhou during the high occurrence period of 2008

An outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) in Guangzhou in 2008 affected over 10,000 children and resulted in high hospital admission rates. To investigate the molecular epidemiological pattern of EV71 infections in Guangzhou, throat swab samples were collected from 102 children clinically diagnosed with HFMD from May to July of 2008 in Guangzhou. Partial VP1 (virus protein 1) fragments of Enterovirus 71 (EV71) isolates were sequenced, and used alongside EV71 sequences entered in GenBank to construct a phylogenetic tree using MEGA5.0. Blast and phylogenetic analyses showed that all 21 sequences belonged to subgenogroup C4 of EV71. In early May, diverse strains were circulating in Guangzhou, but by July, only a small number of these strains could be detected. These results could indicate that geographic and climatic features may affect the epidemic characteristics of EV71, and that some C4 strains might retain their infectivity at higher temperatures.     

A large outbreak of hand, foot, and mouth disease caused by EV71 and CAV16 in Guangdong, China, 2009

A large outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) occurred in Guangdong, China, in 2009. A total of 92,749 cases were officially reported to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Guangdong (GDCDC). To clarify the pathogen causing the outbreak, 600 specimens, including stool, rectal swabs, vesicular swabs, cerebrospinal fluid, and throat swabs, were collected from 541 patients and subjected to one-step RT-PCR. Four hundred eighty-nine of 541 patient samples were positive for enterovirus. All positive samples were cultured on RD and Hep2 cells; 307 specimens displayed CPE. Sequence analysis of PCR fragment and typing real-time PCR indicated that these isolates included EV71 (56%), CAV16 (35.5%), CAV6 (2.0%), CAV10 (1.0%), CAV2 (0.7%), CAV4 (1.3%), Echo30 (0.7%), Echo25 (1.0%), Echo4 (0.3%), CBV5 (1.0%) and human rhinovirus (0.7%). 100% (12/12) of fatal cases and 97.2% (140/144) of severe cases carried EV71 and CAV16. The results implied that EV71 and CAV16 were mainly responsible for the outbreak. Comparison with the three global types of EV71 and the five clusters of genotype C showed that the sequences from mainland China (not including the Hong Kong region) are located in subgenogroup C-4 and originate from isolates from the Shenzhen area of Guangdong Province. Results from this study show that the C-4 genotype has been a prevalent pathogen in mainland China since 1998.     

我国广东、福建地区2000～2001年手足口病肠道病毒71型分离株的种系进化分析

目的 采用逆转录聚合酶链反应(RT-PCR)检测我国广东、福建地区2000-2001年手足口病(HFMD)散发病例中的肠道病毒71型(EV71)，进而通过扩增VP1节段的核苷酸序列，进行毒株的种系进化分析。方法以肠道病毒特异引物对EV-1、EV-2进行RT-PCR，经琼脂糖凝胶电泳鉴定为阳性的标本，进一步用EV71特异引物对159S、162A进行RT-PCR，扩增的VP1节段经纯化后与测序载体pGEM-T连接，转化大肠埃希菌DH5a，筛选后测序。所得序列与我国深圳、上海、武汉地区的EV71流行株，中国台湾1998年4例HFMD暴发分离的EV71毒株，及来自美国、日本、匈牙利等国家地区的EV71毒株的核苷酸序列，用ClustalX1．8和PHYuP3．5进行比对分析，构建种系进化树。结果 25份标本检测EV71的阳性率为20％，所得序列经种系进化分析，与肠道病毒71型的其他毒株同源，与深圳1998年HFMD散发分离的EV71毒株同源性为94％，与上海2000年HFMD暴发分离株同源性为94％～96％，与武汉1987年HFMD病例中分离的毒株同源性为91％，而与国外EV71毒株同源性仅为82％～84％。结论 EV71是我国南方地区HFMD的主要病原之一；我国大陆地区的EV71毒株在种系进化上有较高的同源性；与我国台湾地区大部分分离株亦有90％～91％的核苷酸同源性，但大陆EV71引起的HFMD发病症状较轻，有别于1998年台湾地区EV71的大暴发。     

惠州市重症手足口病病原谱及EV71型VP1区基因特征分析

目的分析惠州市手足口病重症病例的病原谱构成,了解惠州市肠道病毒71型分离株的VPl区基因特征．为科学防治手足口病提供科学依据。方法采集300例重症手足口病（HFMD）患者标本,采用实时荧光RT-PCR检测肠道病毒核酸,并对肠道病毒7l型（EV71）和柯萨奇病毒A16型（CoxA16）进行分型检测;选择8株EV71分离株进行VPl区基因全长序列测定,测序结果利用DNASTAR软件进行核苷酸、氨基酸序列分析和同源性比较。并用Mega5．0软件构建亲缘性进化树。结果通过实时荧光RT-PCR特异性检测,EV71阳性结果154份,阳性率为51．33％;CoxAl6阳性结果38份,阳性率为12．67％。测序结果表明,8株EV71之间的VPl基因核苷酸同源性为96．9％～99．2％。氨基酸同源性为99．3％～100％。VPI区基因遗传进化分析表明。8株EV71分离株与c4基因亚型的代表株处于同一分支,均属于C4基因亚型的C4a进化分支。结论惠州市手足口病疫情主要病原EV71病毒均属于C4a基因亚型,与2004年以来的中国大陆EV71病毒流行的基因型一致,未产生明显的抗原漂移及变异。     

2008-2009年北京分离的肠道病毒71型基因组3'末端序列分析

目的 了解2008-2009年北京分离的肠道病毒71型(EV71)基因组3'末端的基因特征(未包括多聚腺苷尾),探讨是否与病毒的致病性有关.方法 于2008-2009年手足口病流行期间采集来首都儿科研究所附属儿童医院就诊的普通手足口病患儿和合并重症神经系统并发症患儿的咽/鼻拭子或疱疹液标本.将标本接种Vero细胞进行肠道病毒分离,同时设计肠道病毒通用引物、EV71和柯萨奇病毒A组16型(CA16)特异性引物通过巢式RT-PCR对分离到的肠道病毒进行型别鉴定.对引起不同临床类型感染的10株EV71分离株的基因组3'末端进行序列测定和分析.结果 10株EV71的3'末端均包含1386 nt的3D、终止密码子TGA和81 nt的3'UTR,由3D核苷酸序列所推导的3D蛋白含462个氨基酸.10株EV71的3D和3'UTR核苷酸同源性分别为95.8%～99.6%和96.3%～100%,重症来源的4株毒株中有3株在3Dpol第140位和第263位同时出现了相同的氨基酸变异(R140K和I263V).10株EV71的3D与C4亚型代表株具有最高的核苷酸和氨基酸同源性,分别为92.7%～94.2%和96.8%～97.6%;在3'UTR与CA16/G10具有最高的核苷酸同源性(88.9%～91.4%).3D区的遗传进化分析表明10株EV71在亲缘关系上与C4亚型最密切,与CA16/G10较密切,而与EV71其他基因型和亚型较疏远.结论 基因组3'末端在EV71进化中可能有一定的作用.     

宁夏2009年肠道病毒71型基因特征分析

目的 分析2009年宁夏回族自治区手足口病（Hand-Foot-and-Mouth Disease,HFMD）患者中肠道病毒71型（Enterovirus 71,EV71）分离株的基因特征.方法 2009年,从宁夏自治区344例HFMD病例中采集的385份标本,用人横纹肌肉瘤（Human Rhabdomyosarcoma,RD）细胞对标本进行肠道病毒分离培养;采用型特异性RT-PCR对阳性分离物中的EV71病毒进行鉴定;对鉴定的EV71毒株VP1编码区进行核苷酸序列测定分析.结果 共分离到肠道病毒126株,其中58株为EV71（46%）,对其中46株EV71的VP1编码区序列进行测定和分析.宁夏分离株与EV71的A和B基因型代表株核苷酸序列同源性分别为81.7%～82.8%和83.1%～85.2%,氨基酸序列同源性分别为93.9%～95.9%和96.2%～97.9%;与C基因型的C1、C2、C3、C4a、C4b和C5亚型代表株核苷酸序列同源性分别为88.3%～90.6%、88.3%～90.1%、87.8%～89.0%、94.2%～98.9%、91.8%～94.1%和86.7%～89.1%;氨基酸序列同源性分别为97.9%～99.6%、97.9%～99.3%、97.6%～98.9%、97.9%～100%、98.6%～99.6%和97.9%～98.9%.在系统发生树上,这46株毒株与C4基因型代表株聚为一簇,属于C4亚型中的C4a分支.结论 2009年EV71的C4a亚型在宁夏有较广泛的流行,是宁夏流行的绝对优势基因亚型,C4a也是我国2005年以来流行的优势基因亚型.     

EV71所致手足口病患儿及其密切接触儿童带毒状况的追踪观察

目的 调查EV71所致手足口病患儿及其密切接触儿童的病毒携带状况,探讨肠道病毒传播规律,为科学防控手足口病提供参考.方法 现场追踪观察18名聚集性患儿及其50名密切接触儿童并采集标本,利用RD细胞分离肠道病毒,实时荧光RT-PCR方法检测肠道病毒核酸.结果 在发病后3～6周内,仍有38.89％(7/18)的确诊患儿粪便...     

An outbreak of enterovirus 71 infection in Taiwan, 1998: epidemiologic and clinical manifestations.

BACKGROUND: An outbreak of enterovirus infections occurred throughout Taiwan in 1998. The diseases were manifectated with hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), some associated with meningitis, encephalitis, or acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). OBJECTIVES: This study is aimed to characterize and analyze the epidermologic and clinical features during the outbreak. STUDY DESIGN: The epidemiologic information was collected from the Ministry of Health on passive surveillance; clinical and virological investigations were carried out at National Cheng Kung University Medical Center. RESULTS: Between April and December 1998, 405 children were hospitalized, and 78 patients died during this outbreak in Taiwan. There were 119 cases identified to be EV71 infection in Tainan and Chiayi areas; 105 cases by virus isolation and 14 by serological assay. The outbreak had a biphasic curve with peak in June and October, especially in the southern Taiwan. Seventy-two percent of patients were below 3 years of age. The spectrum of disease included HFMD in 54, HFMD with central nerve system (CNS) involvement in 37, herpangina in 12, aseptic meningitis in three, encephalitis/ meningoencephalitis in ten, acute flaccid paralysis in three. There was nine fatal cases complicated with neurogenic pulmonary edema. Myoclonus with sleep disturbance was the most important early sign of EV71 infection with CNS involvement. CONCLUSION: Our experience demonstrated that the EV71 isolated in Taiwan had strong dermatotropic as well as neurotropic tendencies. Early detecting CNS involvement and commencing aggressive therapy may reduce the mortality.     

Molecular characterization and complete genome analysis of human enterovirus 71 and coxsackievirus A16 from children with hand, foot and mouth disease in Thailand during 2008-2011

Hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) has mostly been caused by enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CA16). CA 16 was the most common cause of HFMD in 2010. EV71 had a high prevalence in 2008-2009 and has been identified with a higher frequency since 2011. Nearly complete genome sequences of three EV71 strains (2008-2009 strains) and two CA16 strains (2010 strains) obtained from outbreaks in Thailand in 2008 to 2010 were characterized. Based on a phylogenetic tree of the complete VP1 region, three EV71 strains grouped into the B5, C1 and C4 genotypes, and two CA16 strains grouped into the C genotype. Based on sequence analysis, nucleotide changes were found to cluster in the internal ribosome entry site (IRES) element of the 5′-untranslated region (5′-UTR). Amino acid differences identified in all strains were located in the non-structural protein. These data also provide the molecular epidemiology of EV71 and CA16 outbreaks in Thailand.     

Clinical and Etiological Characteristics of Enterovirus 71-Related Diseases during a Recent 2-Year Period in Korea

Human enterovirus 71 (EV 71) has caused large-scale outbreaks of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD), particularly in the Asian-Pacific region. In this study, we report a major outbreak of EV 71 infection in Korea and describe the clinical differences between EV 71 and non-EV 71 enterovirus infections. We prospectively enrolled patients with suspected viral infections during a recent 2-year period through a nationwide surveillance system. We identified 719 patients with suspected HFMD or herpangina using real-time PCR and genotyping based on VP1 sequence analysis. The major pathogen causing HFMD changed substantially from 2008 to 2009, with EV 71 becoming the most common cause of HFMD in Korea in 2009. We successfully identified the enteroviral genotypes for 218 of the 719 patients. Patients with EV 71 infections tended to be younger than those with non-EV 71 enteroviral infections and presented with HFMD and meningoencephalitis. In addition, the occurrence of fever, headache, and neck stiffness was significantly higher in patients with EV 71 infections. Multivariable analysis showed that for patients presenting with HFMD, fever, or a sore throat, each covariate was independently associated with EV 71 infection; the adjusted odds ratios (with 95% confidence intervals in parentheses) for these variables were 31.86 (10.04 to 101.09), 4.76 (1.71 to 13.25), and 0.18 (0.04 to 0.77), respectively. Our results indicate that EV 71 was a major cause of HFMD in Korea during the study period. In addition, we found that clinical symptoms may be helpful in the early identification of patients with EV 71 infections.Human enterovirus 71 (EV 71) is an important emerging pathogen of hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) (1, 6, 30). In particular, several major outbreaks of EV 71 have been documented in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997 (3, 4, 7, 9, 25). EV 71 infection causes HFMD, a common exanthema of young children that is characterized by a fever, rashes on the palms and the bottoms of the feet, and ulcers in the oral cavity. In general, patients with HFMD experience a mild course of disease; however, some patients develop severe neurological complications, especially as a result of EV 71 (18).Given that EV 71 infection could cause severe neurological complications, its early detection in patients with HFMD is an important part of intensive care efforts and efforts to prevent mortality. Unfortunately, current methods for the detection of EV 71 do not enable early detection (23). Here we report an outbreak of EV 71 infection in Korea. As part of this nationwide surveillance study, we examined the clinical differences between EV 71 and non-EV 71 enteroviral infections, and we investigated whether these differences are clinically applicable to the early detection of EV 71 in patients with complications of HFMD.     

Echovirus 7 associated encephalomyelitis.

BACKGROUND: Hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) is endemic in Malaysia. In 1997, a large outbreak of enterovirus 71 (EV-71) associated HFMD resulted in 41 deaths due to severe left ventricular dysfunction and central nervous system infection with extensive damage to the medulla and pons. The clinical presentation in all these patients were rapid cardio-respiratory decompensation leading to cardiac arrest. Another large outbreak of HFMD with 55 fatal cases and a similar clinical picture was reported in Taiwan in 1998. In 2000, an outbreak of HFMD resulted in the deaths of three children who had rapid cardio-respiratory decompensation and one child who survived a central nervous system infection. OBJECTIVES: We set out to study the etiologic agent and mechanism involved in three children who presented to our hospital, two of whom died and one survived a central nervous system infection. STUDY DESIGN: The clinical course of the disease was described. Throat, rectal swab and cerebrospinal fluid samples were subjected to viral isolation and viral isolates were identified by immunofluorescence, micro-neutralisation using human rhabdomyosarcoma (RD) cells, and reverse transcritpase polymerase chain reaction. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed on two of the patients. RESULTS: Echovirus 7 was the sole pathogen isolated from three cases of acute encephalomyelitis, two of which were fatal due to severe left ventricular dysfunction resistant to inotropic support. The survivor had residual bulbar palsy, but is considered to have had a good neurological outcome. CONCLUSION: Echovirus 7 infection associated with encephalomyelitis could be fatal due to indirect involvement of the heart resulting in severe left ventricular dysfunction. In addition one of the children presented with hand, foot, and mouth disease, a syndrome that has not been previously associated with echovirus 7 infection.     

A new variant of echovirus 4 associated with a large outbreak of aseptic meningitis.

BACKGROUND: A large outbreak of aseptic meningitis which began in April 1997 involved hundreds of cases in all geographical regions of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, peaked between June and September, and lasted until December. OBJECTIVES: We have investigated the virus associated with the outbreak to determine its serotype and molecular type and to establish epidemiological links. DESIGN: Virus strains isolated from 210 clinical samples were serotyped by neutralization using LBM and WHO antiserum pools and two echovirus 4 (EV4)-specific antisera, and by immunofluorescence using a monoclonal antibody. RNA was extracted and a 435 base long fragment derived from the 5'UTR of the genome was amplified by RT-PCR using common primers, and sequenced. Sequences were compared to echoviruses 4, 6 and 7 prototypes from ATCC, and to other echoviruses sequences from the EMBL/Genbank data base. RESULTS: The outbreak isolates were identified by the EV4 type-specific antisera and the monoclonal antibody but not with the WHO pools. Very few isolates could be typed by the LBM pools. The EV4 isolates accounted for 68% of all enterovirus isolates in our laboratory in 1997. The age distribution of the patients was: 0-11 month, 11.2%; 1-4 years, 16.1%; 5-9 years, 31.8%; 10-14 years, 9.9%; 15-20 years, 9.5%; 21-44 years, 21.5%; and > 45 years, 0%. Males between 1 and 14 years of age were affected more frequently than females of the same age. The sequences of 25 of 28 EV4 isolates analyzed were closely related to each other (> 95% homology) and the remaining three isolates had < 95% homology to the others and to each other. Interestingly, the outbreak strains were less closely related to the EV4 prototype, than to several other echoviruses. Three closely related subgroups were identified which correlated with geographical distribution but the temporal distribution did not reveal links leading to the source of the outbreak. CONCLUSION: The outbreak was caused by a variant of EV4 which apparently did not circulate in the area before and thus was capable of causing a widespread infection.     

An outbreak of enterovirus 71 infection in Taiwan, 1998. II. Laboratory diagnosis and genetic analysis.

BACKGROUND: An epidemic of enterovirus 71 (EV71) occurred in Taiwan from April to December of 1998, with two peaks, one in June and the other in October. Many enteroviruses were isolated in our laboratory from 258 cases during this outbreak. Approximately half of the enteroviruses isolated were EV71 and one fifth were coxsackievirus A16. OBJECTIVES: To analyze laboratory findings in the EV71 epidemic of 1998 in Taiwan, various EV71 specimens in different cell lines were examined. In addition, genetic analysis of 5' non-coding region (NCR) was performed to analyze the strain variation in this outbreak. RESULTS: The cytopathic effect induced by EV71 was observed 2-13 (mean of 4.5) days post-inoculation in Vero cells and 4-15 (mean of 6.6) days in green monkey kidney (GMK) cells inoculated with throat swabs. Of the total positive EV71 cases, virus was most frequently obtained from throat swabs (91.7%), less from stools (64.8%), and none from cerebral spinal fluid (CSF). Molecular analyses of EV71 by sequencing the 5' NCR of 34 strains obtained from different clinical categories and various geographic areas showed that their sequences differed (0-13 bp in 681 bp sequenced) by approximately 0-2%. The sequences of these isolates differed from EV71 prototype BrCr or MS strain by 17.5-19%, with the exception of two samples which exhibited nucleotide variation by only 8.9 and 8.2%, when compared to the MS strain. CONCLUSION: EV71 was most frequently isolated from throat swab specimens in Vero cells. The molecular analyses of the 5' NCR of EV71 revealed that most isolates from this epidemic belonged to a group of closely related clones and only two were in a different group which was clustered with the EV71 MS strain.