Enterovirus D68, a highly pathogenic and epidemic virus

Since its discovery in 1962, enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) was one of the less frequently detected enteroviruses by the surveillance networks worldwide. In 2014, US pediatric hospitals reported increases in the number of children with severe respiratory illness. Following the alerts from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, numerous cases of EV-D68 were reported in many countries. EV-D68 is associated with severe respiratory infections in children and adults, mostly in patients with underlying respiratory diseases. Like with poliovirus and EV-A71, rare but severe neurological complications may occur: acute flaccid myelitis is characterized by rapid onset of weakness and distinct abnormalities of the spinal cord gray matter on magnetic resonance imaging. Molecular epidemiology of strains isolated worldwide since the 90s shows a rapid evolution of the virus, reflecting its wide circulation in the general population. The recent emergence of EV-D68 underlines the unpredictable epidemic properties and the neurotropism of enteroviruses.