China on alert over deadly child virus

A young girl suffering from hand, foot and mouth disease undergoes treatment in a hospital.

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- China's Health Ministry strengthened surveillance and dispatched specialists to eastern China's Anhui province as the death toll from a virulent virus climbed to 22, the country's Xinhua news agency reported.


A young girl suffering from hand, foot and mouth disease undergoes treatment in a hospital.

As of Friday, there were 3,321 reported cases of the virus in children. The illness -- known as enterovirus 71 -- can cause hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD).

A total of 978 children are hospitalized, Wang Yan, a Anhui province official, told Xinhua. Forty-eight of them are in critical condition.

"Authorities in Anhui ... are doing utmost to treat the children and strengthen disease control," he said.

The Health Ministry has dispatched 32 medical specialists to Fuyang City to direct the rescue work in Anhui province, Wang said, according to Xinhua.

"Health bureaus at all levels must recognize the importance and urgency of preventing the spread of infectious diseases," the ministry said in a nationwide order, The Associated Press reported.

The order said preventing infectious diseases was needed "to guarantee the smooth staging of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics and to practically preserve social stability," AP reported.

As well as hand, foot and mouth disease, the order targeted other infectious diseases including hepatitis A and measles.

China, a Third World country masquerading as a playa. Busting Tibetan monk heads and the inability to control diseases we wiped out years ago, renders them nothing more than a rich Yemen. Yet they enjoy Most Favored Nation status, and hold more of our dollars than we do. The world has truly turned upside down when I'm on the side of Nancy Pelosi regarding her anti-China stance..

CNN