Abstract: ObjectiveTo analyze etiologic characteristics of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) and genetic features of EV 71 in Weinan City in 2016.MethodsSpecimens of suspected HFMD cases in Weinan in 2016 were collected for determination of enterovirus types by using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Meanwhile, nucleotide sequence, homology and phylogenetic analysis of VP1 encoding gene were performed in two strains of EV 71.ResultsA total of 1 019 throat swabs specimens of HFMD were detected and 689 specimens were found to be positive for EV, with a total positive rate of 67.62%. The positive rates of viruses ranging from high to low were 26.89% for the other human enteroviruses (HEV), 24.63% for EV 71, and 16.09% for Cox A16 (P<0.01). The nucleic acid positive cases of EV were mainly occurred from May to October, accounting for 91.04%（549/603）of the total positive cases. The male to female sex ratio of the nucleic acid positive cases was 1.26∶1. The nucleic acid positive cases were mainly the children aged under five years (93.90%, 647/689), then scattered children(67.94%) and the children in kindergarten (32.06%). The positive rate of EV 71 was highest in severe cases (72.22%) and that of other HEV was highest in common cases (29.04%; P<0.01). The sequence of VP1 region of two strains of EV 71 had high homology with C4a gene subtype (96.6%-96.7%) and amino acids (99.3%). Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that the two strains of EV 71 had very high homology with the epidemic strain of Fujian（KU595899.1）.ConclusionThe other HEV was major virus causing HFMD in Weinan in 2016. EV 71 was the predominant virus subtype causing severe cases of HFMD in Weinan City and belonged to C4a genotype.