Fast-moving enterovirus strikes US children in 12 states, but not adults

Clusters of severe respiratory illness across a dozen US states have raised concern about the spread of an unusual virus that is striking children but not adults, health officials said.

The culprit in most cases identified so far was enterovirus 68, or EV-D68, said assistant surgeon general Anne Schuchat on Monday.

She said "about 12 states" had reported apparent clusters to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The situation is evolving quickly," she said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there are many more."

No deaths had been reported this year, but infants, children and teenagers were most vulnerable, and some states had seen a spike in hospitalisations, she said. According to US media reports, the affected states include Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Oklahoma.

"This isn't a new virus," Schuchat told reporters, noting that it was first discovered in 1962.

However, it "is fairly uncommon, and we don't know as much about it as we do about some of the other common enteroviruses", she said.