Contagious hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) had led to 30 deaths in China as of Thursday morning, according to Xinhua's tally based on confirmed death reports from provincial-level health bureaus.

Two children died of the enterovirus 71 (EV71) virus, which caused them to develop HFMD, in the southernmost Hainan Province, a provincial health department official said on Thursday. He did not say when they had died.

According to the latest figures from the provincial health department, 180 cases of HFMD were reported by Thursday, of which five were confirmed to be infected with the EV71 virus.

The central province of Hunan and the southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region reported their first and only HFMD deaths on Wednesday.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2008)