Outbreak of E.C.H.O. virus type 30 in a general practice.

Pneumoconiosis-Lyons et al. MEDICBALJURNAI Pneumoconiosis Medical Panel, Cardiff, for referral of cases; to Messrs. r. v. Oldham and G. Berry for statistical advice; and to Miss E. Dawkins for technical assistance. REFERENCES Brasseur, L. (1963). L'exploration fonctionnelle pulmonaire dans la pneumoconiose des houilleurs. Brussels. For many years E.C.H.O. viruses have been known aetiological agents in human disease, particularly aseptic meningitis; examples include type 4 (Chin et al., 1957), type 6 (Kibrick et al., 1957), and type 9 (Tyrrell and Snell, 1956). One of the latest to be linked with aseptic meningitis is type 30, described in Scotland originally as the " Frater virus " (Duncan, 1960). A virus now known to be identical was described in the United States as the " Bastianni virus " (Plager and Decher, 1963). E.C.H.O. virus type 30 was first incriminated in illness in this country in 1950-60 and has been encountered only occasionally between 1960 and 1964 (Grist and Bell, 1967). Current information on symptomatology is based on isolated cases seen in hospital practice. In this communication we describe an outbreak of a febrile illness observed in a general practice for which there is evidence that the causal agent may have been E.C.H.O. virus type 30.