Outbreak of Illness Associated with E.C.H.O. Type 7 Virus

Of the 27 recognized members of the E.C.H.O. virus group only a few have so far been reported to be associated with outbreaks of disease of the central nervous system. These include E.C.H.O. type 4 (Lehan et al, 1957), type 6 (Von Zeipel and Svedmyr, 1957), type 9 (Nihoul et al, 1957), type 11 (Elvin-Lewis and Melnick, 1959), and type 16 (Kibrick et al, 1957). In addition, the virus known as Frater (Duncan, 1960; Bell, 1962) also appears to be a member of the E.C.H.O. group and was associated with outbreaks of meningitis in Scotland in 1959. In 1961 E.C.H.O. type 7 virus infection was associated with about one-quarter of the cases of aseptic meningitis seen in the Aberdeen area. Nineteen persons were shown to have been infected during April to November, with the peak in July. The only previous record of E.C.H.O. type 7 infection in Scotland was in association with cases of infant diarrhoea in Glasgow in 1957 (Sommerville and Carson, 1958). Cases of meningitis associated with E.C.H.O. type 7 virus have also been reported elsewhere (Melnick and Sabin, 1959), but so far occurring only sporadically.