Infections with coxsackie virus B5 in six midwestern states.

3 'HE RECOGNIZED viral agents responsible for the syndrome defined as benign aseptic meningitis include mumps, ECHO (enteric cytopathogenic human orphan), Coxsackie, poliomyelitis, and the arthropod-borne encephalitis viruses. Observations made during the summer and autumn months of 1956 indicated an unusually high incidence of cases of aseptic meningitis in certain midwestern communities. Fecal specimens submitted for poliomyelitis surveillance studies yielded a large number of isolates identified as Coxsackie virus, type B5. The evidence that the B5 virus was etiologically related to many of the cases observed was reinforced by a singular study of a localized outbreak of aseptic meningitis caused by Coxsackie B5 virus in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, during the same summer (1). The present report summarizes our experiences encountered with this virus with particular reference to differences in the distribution in the six midwestern States.