Abstract
Background: 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.
Methods: 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.
Results: 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.
Conclusion: Extended research work should be carried out to better understand the emerging nature of CV A16 associated with HFMD in these islands.