China reports two more deaths from child virus

Hand, foot and mouth is a common childhood illness, but thecurrent outbreak has led to fatalities in China, mostly whenlinked with enterovirus 71 (EV71), which can cause a severeform of the disease, characterised by high fever, paralysis andmeningitis.

China also reported an additional 4,000 cases of hand, footand mouth, bringing the total to nearly 20,000 across thecountry this year, but said the rise was due to betterreporting of the outbreak, not the spread of the disease.

"The rising number is not a sign of a deterioratingsituation," Xinhua said.

The two latest deaths were both on China's southern islandprovince of Hainan, a tropical area popular with tourists.

The outbreak has centred on Fuyang city, in the poor,eastern province of Anhui, were 22 have died, but several otherregions have reported fatalities.

Some 104 patients in Anhui remained in a criticalcondition, Xinhua said.

The World Health Organisation has said that China was notfacing a new or more virulent strain of hand, foot and mouth,despite an unusually high number of child deaths.

But questions remain about why there has been such a largecluster of cases in Fuyang and why they presented unusualsymptoms that made it difficult to identify the virus -- adelay that may have cost lives.

Around Asia, cases of the disease, which mostly affectschildren under five, were at higher than usual levels.

Health experts say the peak season for hand, foot and mouthis usually June and July, meaning the number of cases could yetrise.

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Lindsay Beck andAlex Richardson)