Outbreaks of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis caused by human adenovirus type 8 in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in 2016

From April to November 2016, two outbreaks of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) occurred successively at primary and middle schools in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, and a total of 197 clinically diagnosed cases were reported. Real-time PCR analyses confirmed that human adenovirus (HAdV) infection was related to these outbreaks. Further studies involving sequence determination and phylogenetic analysis based on the penton base, hexon, and fiber genes indicated that human adenovirus type 8 (HAdV-8), belonging to species D, was responsible for the outbreaks. This is the first report of a HAdV-8 associated EKC outbreak in mainland of China, and the results of this study are expected to provide support for future research into HAdV-8 in China.