Infectious diseases claimed 1,004 lives on the Chinese mainland last month, and more than half of the deaths were caused by the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced Friday.

A total of 1,907 AIDS cases, which are categorized as a class B infectious disease by the MOH, were reported on the mainland in January, of which 540 were fatal, a report posted on the MOH website said.

In January, 283,296 cases of class B infectious diseases were reported on the mainland. Of those, 992 were fatal.

Viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, dysentery and gonorrhea were the top five infectious diseases in this category, accounting for 95.11 percent of all cases, according to the report.

In addition, 12 of the 118,726 cases of class C infectious diseases reported were fatal. About 92.3 percent of the deaths were caused by infectious diarrhea and mumps, as well as hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD).

No cases of plague or cholera were reported on the mainland. Both diseases are categorized as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious, under China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

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