Human enterovirus 71 subgenotype B3 lacks coxsackievirus A16-like neurovirulence in mice infection

At least three different EV-71 subgenotypes were identified from an outbreak in Malaysia in 1998. The subgenotypes C2 and B4 were associated with the severe and fatal infections, whereas the B3 virus was associated with mild to subclinical infections. The B3 virus genome sequences had >= 85% similarity at the 3' end to CV-A16. This offers opportunities to examine if there are characteristic similarities and differences in virulence between CV-A16, EV-71 B3 and EV-71 B4 and to determine if the presence of the CV-A16-liked genes in EV-71 B3 would also confer the virus with a CV-A16-liked neurovirulence in mice model infection.