[Isolation of Enterovirus 70 during an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in Algeria in 1973].

The Enterovirus 70 was isolated in Algeria in 1973 during an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis. The main epidemiological features were similar to those previously described in other countries: involvement of the adults especially, mainly those living in communities, irrelevance of the different socio-economical levels of the population. The spring waters may have played a role in the transmission of the disease. The virological study draws the attention on the optimal conditions for the isolation of the virus and shows that the strains are antigenically related to those isolated in Morocco during 1971. The Enterovirus 70 was associated with adenoviruses and it was not possible to evaluate the respective role of the two groups of viruses in the determinism of the epidemic. The detection of the residual antibodies in sera collected in 1974 indicates that 58% of a group of 50 adults have antibodies against the Enterovirus 70. It is not yet possible to ascertain whether those antibodies are specific or only reflect an antigenic crossing between the Enterovirus 70 and one or several already known enteroviruses.