title: B1c genetic subtype of coxsackievirus A16 associated with hand, foot and mouth disease in Andaman Islands, India.
abstract: An outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) occurred in the Andaman Islands in 2013. Therefore, we aimed to identify the aetiological agent and to explore its genetic characteristics.
  
  
  
  Clinical specimens were subjected to virus isolation, further confirmed by sequencing the partial VP1/2A region of enterovirus, and analysed using MEGA 6 software with intra-serotype reference sequences.
  
  
  
  Coxsackievirus A16 (CV A16) was found to be the causative agent, closely grouped with B1c genetic clusters of CV A16. However, it has significant genetic distance (K2P=0.059%) with B1c sub-clusters.
  
  
  
  Extended research work should be carried out to better understand the emerging nature of CV A16 associated with HFMD in these islands.GenBank accession numbers: KU523376-KU523387.
authors: Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR), Department of Microbiology, Port Blair - 744101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
authors: Surya
authors: S
authors: Palani
authors: Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR), Department of Microbiology, Port Blair - 744101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
authors: Muruganandam
authors: M
authors: Nagarajan
authors: Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR), Department of Microbiology, Port Blair - 744101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
authors: Ashok Kumar
authors: AK
authors: Biswas
authors: Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR), Department of Microbiology, Port Blair - 744101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.
authors: Anwesh
authors: A
authors: Maile
authors: Regional Medical Research Centre (ICMR), Department of Microbiology, Port Blair - 744101, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India pblicmr@sancharnet.in.
authors: Vijayachari
authors: V
authors: Paluru
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004770:Enterovirus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006232:Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D062312:Islands; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D065288:Serogroup
keywords: Andaman Islands - India; B1c genetic sub-cluster; Coxsackievirus A16; Hand foot and mouth disease; Molecular characterisation; Virus Isolation