Jpn. J. Infect. Dis., 52, 160-163, 1999

Short Communication

Phylogenic Analysis of Echovirus Type 30 Isolated from a Large Epidemic of Aseptic
Meningitis in Japan during 1997-1998

Hiromu Yoshida*, Zheng Hong, Tetsuo Yoneyama, Kumiko Yoshii, Hiroyuki Shimizu, Kozo Ota¹, Tsukasa Murakami², Nobuhiro Iritani², Misako Tsuchiya³, Shinichi Takao⁴, Kazue Uchida⁵, Shigeki Yamanishi⁶, Mitsuhiro Hamazaki⁷, Shuji Yoshino⁸, Mitsuaki Oseto⁹, Katsuhiko Abe¹⁰, Masako Hamano¹¹, Kenji Sakae¹², Hideaki Tsuzuki¹², Seizo Chiya¹³, Hajime Onishi¹⁴, Tsuguto Fujimoto¹⁵, Tetsuya Munemura¹⁶, Ayumi Kawamoto¹⁷, Yoko Yokota¹⁸, Shuji Ando¹⁹, Hiromasa Sekine²⁰, Masayuki Akami²¹, Setsuko Iizuka²², Akio Hagiwara and Tatsuo Miyamura

Department of Virology II, National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Gakuen 4-7-1, Musashimurayama 208-0011, Tokyo, ¹Fukuoka City Institute for Hygiene and Environment, Fukuoka 810-0065, ²Osaka City Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, 543-0026, ³Fukushima Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, 960-8560, ⁴Hiroshima Prefectural Institute of Public
Health and Environmental Science, Hiroshima 734-0007, ⁵Saitama Institute of Public Health, Urawa 338-0824, ⁶Kagawa Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Takamatsu 760-0065, ⁷Fukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, Dazaifu 818-0135, ⁸Miyazaki Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Miyazaki, 889-2155, ⁹Ehime Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Matsuyama 790-0003, ¹⁰Hiroshima City Institute of Public Health, Hiroshima 733-8650, ¹¹Okayama Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Okayama 701-0298,¹²Aichi Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Nagoya 462-0032, ¹³Kochi Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Kochi 780-0850, ¹⁴Ishikawa Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Kanazawa 920-1154, ¹⁵Hyogo Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Kobe 652-0032, ¹⁶Yokohama City Institute of Public Health, Yokohama 235-0012, ¹⁷Tottori Prefectural Public Health Laboratory, Tottori 680-0801, ¹⁸Shiga Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Otsu 520-0834, ¹⁹Toyama Prefectural Institute of Public Health, Toyama 939-0363, ²⁰Tokyo Metropolitan Research Laboratory of Public Health, Tokyo 169-0073, ²¹Gunma Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Sciences, Maebashi 371-0035, ²²Shimane Prefectural Institute of Public Health and Environmental Science, Matsue 690-0122, Japan

(Received July 26, 1999. Accepted August 26, 1999)

SUMMARY: During 1997 to 1998, a nationwide epidemic of aseptic meningitis occurred in Japan. More than 4,500 isolates from patients with aseptic meningitis were identified as echovirus type 30. To investigate the character of these isolates, we examined the nucleotide sequences of thirty-seven geographical representatives and
compared them with 50 strains isolated during the past 20 years. The phylogenic analysis used partial sequences from either the VP1 or VP4-VP2 region of the viral capsid. This analysis revealed that the isolates were divided into six genomic groups. All isolates identified during 1997-1998 belonged to only two genomic groups; these two groups are thought to be the causative viral agents involved in the recent epidemic.

*Corresponsing author: Fax: +81-42-561-4729, E-mail:hyoshida@nih.go.jp

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