Characterization of an Echovirus Type 30 Variant Isolated from Patients with Aseptic Meningitis

An outbreak of echovirus type 30 infection associated with aseptic meningitis occurred among newborn babies in a hospital neonatal room at Fukui City in 1983. The isolated virus was identified as an antigenic variant of echovirus type 30 by cross-neutralization tests with antisera against the prototype Bastianni strain and the present isolate. Western blot analysis demonstrated that the antigenic determinants responsible for virus neutralization, some of which were type specific and others strain specific, were present on the capsid protein VP1. The current strain was more thermoresistant than the prototype, suggesting some alterations in virus structural proteins.