Acute Hemorrhagic Conjunctivitis caused by Coxsackievirus A24 Variant, South Korea, 2002

In summer 2002, a nationwide outbreak of acute hemorrhagic conjunctivitis occurred in South Korea. The etiologic agent was confirmed as coxsackievirus A24 variant (CA24v) by virus isolation and sequencing of a part of the VP1 gene. Phylogentic analysis, based on the protease 3C sequences, showed that the Korean isolates were clustered into a lineage distinct from the CA24v isolates reported in previous outbreaks in Asia