Novel Human Enterovirus C Infection in Child with Community-acquired Pneumonia

TO THE EDITOR: Human enteroviruses (HEVs) are small, nonenveloped viruses with a positive-stranded RNA genome that includes regions P1, P2, and P3 (1). Most experts believe that HEV strains with >75% nt and >85% aa identity in complete or partial viral protein 1 (VP1) sequences should be considered the same type (2). However, more stringent criteria of 75% nt and 88% aa identity have been suggested for routine typing (3). We report the isolation and characterization of a novel HEV type within the species HEV-C (designated EV-C117 by the Picornaviridae Study Group, www.picornastudygroup.com).