Molecular epidemiology of Echovirus 30 in Fujian, China between 2001 and 2011

Echovirus 30 (E-30) was responsible for an outbreak of aseptic meningitis between April 1 and June 2, 2011 in Fujian Province, China. A molecular epidemiology study of 115 E-30 strains was performed to characterize the genetic features of the etiologic agent of the 2011 aseptic meningitis outbreak. The phylogenetic trees of the complete VP1 gene (876 bp) from 74 of 115 isolates and 50 reference sequences were analyzed. Three lineages (E-30_h, i, and j) were detected that had co-circulated in Fujian in the last decade, of which E-30_j was new. The other 72 Fujian strains and 16 representative strains from other provinces of China all belong to E-30_h and E-30_i. Two distinct E-30 clusters including virus isolates obtained during adult surveillance were associated with the 2011 outbreak and differed from Fujian isolates prior to 2011, suggesting that the viruses may vary and adult infections play an important role in viral transmission. Thus, the multiple lineages of E-30 in Fujian and variant viruses enhanced transmissibility, which may be related to the epidemic activity of E-30.