Abstract: Objective To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of hand foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in Jinhua and understand the epidemic trend of the disease. Methods The descriptive epidemiological analysis was conducted on the incidence data of HFMD in Jinhua obtained from the National Disease Reporting Information System during 2009-2010. Results A total of 18 450 HFMD cases were reported during this period, the average annual incidence was 180.37/lakh. The incidence in 2010 (238.06/lakh) increased by 95.08% compared with that in 2009 (122.03/lakh). The etiological surveillance indicated that the predominant strain was Cox A16 in 2009 and EV71 in 2010. The highest case number and incidence were reported in Wucheng district. The disease occurred all the year round and peaked during April-July in a year, but 2 incidence peaks were observed in 2009, one was during April-July, another one was during October-December. The disease mainly affected the children aged 3 years both in and outside child care settings. The case number and incidence were higher in males than in females. Conclusion The time, geographic, gender and age distributions of HFMD cases varied in Jinhua during 2009-2010. The incidence increased substantially in 2010 compared with 2009, and the predominant strain was EV 71 in 2010 instead of Cox A16 in 2009.