Feces, stool, throat swabs and cerebrospinal fluid samples were collected from HFMD cases presenting at Guangzhou from 5 surveillance hospitals (Guangdong Women and Children Hospital, Guangzhou Yuexiu District Children Hospital, Zengcheng People's Hospital, Guangzhou Huado Distrit People's Hospital, and Huangpu Branch of the First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University) and 12 districts were stored at-20 C and tested at the district level center for disease control and prevention in Guangzhou.