[Echovirus 30 epidemic (author's transl)]

Echovirus 30 was the cause of abacterial meningitis and pharyngitis in 22 cases in the Ludwigshafen on Rhine area in summer 1976 and in a further 26 cases in various regions of the German Federal Republic. In 11 children echotype-30-virus could be isolated from the CSF. In 47 children the diagnosis was established by a rise of neutralising antibodies. Positive virus isolation from the CSF was only possible during the first two days of the illness using rhabdomyosarcoma cell tissue cultures. These were particularly sensitive to the echovirus 30 subtype found.