China on alert as deadly EV-71 virus spreads

BEIJING - China's Health Ministry has ordered heightened efforts to stem the spread of infectious diseases following an outbreak of a virus that has killed 22 children in one city and is spreading.
The outbreak of enterovirus 71, a type of hand, foot and mouth disease that children are susceptible to, is another headache for the communist government as it prepares for the Olympic Games already tarnished by an uprising among Tibetans in western China and an international torch relay disrupted by protests.
Stepped up vigilance by health bureaus and hospitals to prevent the spread of infectious diseases was necessary to guarantee the smooth staging of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics and to practically preserve social stability," the ministry said in an order posted on its Web site Saturday.
What prompted the government to act was an unusual jump in cases of the enterovirus, known as EV-71, in Fuyang, a fast-growing city set amid the rural heartland of central China.
As of early Saturday, 3,736 cases of EV-71 were reported in Fuyang's mainly rural outskirts, a rise of 415 in about 24 hours, health officials said. Besides the 22 deaths, 1,115 people remain hospitalized, 42 of them in serious or critical condition, said the health department of Anhui province, where Fuyang is located.
The ministry sent expert teams to Anhui to lead treatment of the disease and prevent the spreading. State-run television showed workers spraying disinfectant around houses in rural areas outside Fuyang and medical teams visiting families with small children.
Meanwhile, nearly 800 other cases were reported elsewhere in Anhui, the health department said in a statement on its Web site. In Guangdong province, 1,700 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the south, preliminary tests showed an 18-month-old boy who died Friday was infected with EV-71, and a second suspected death was under investigation, the Xinhua News Agency said.
Cases of hand, foot and mouth outbreaks, but not necessarily EV-71, have been reported in at least two other provinces, Xinhua said.
Hand, foot and mouth disease are viruses that cause fever, mouth sores and rashes with blisters. Spread by contact with the stool or discharges from sneezes or coughs of infected people, the viruses mainly strike children 10 years and younger. Some cases can lead to fatal brain swelling. The illness is not related to the foot and mouth disease that hits livestock.