Abstract: Objective To analyze epidemiological and etiological characteristics of hand,foot and mouth disease(HFMD)in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region(Xinjiang)from 2008 throuhg 2013 and to provide bases for HFMD prevention and control.Methods Descriptive epidemiological methods were used to analyze the epidemiological data and laboratory results from National Notifiable Disease Survelliance System and Regional HFMD Lab Net.Results A total of 38 470 HFMD cases were reported during the period,including 83 severe cases and 8 deaths.The average annual incidence rate was 29.6/100000.The majority of the reported cases distributed in Wulumuqi,Yili,Changji and Tacheng prefectures,accounting for 68.6%of the whole cases in Xinjiang.The peak of HFMD epidemic in a year was from May to July.The children under 5 years old were the most susceptible population.The incidence rate in the males was higher than that in the females.Of the 4922 cases tested for enterovirus(EV)nucleic acid with real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),3818(77.6%)were EV positive,including human enterovirus 71(EV71)(38.6%),coxsackievirus A 16(CA16)(43.4%),and non-EV71 and non-CA16 enterovirus(other EV)(18.0%).Among the severe and death cases,the detection rate of EV71 was 96.6%and 100.0%,respectively.Conclusion Surveillance on pathogens of HFMD,especially on prevalence of EV71,is important to the control and prevention of HFMD epidemic.