On July 10, the Ministry of Health disclosed details of infectious diseases nationwide for June 2007.

A total of 381,942 categories A and B infection cases were reported nationwide on the mainland resulting in 663 deaths.

Cases reported accounted for all 22 types of categories A and B infectious diseases, except for plague, SARS, poliomyelitis, human bird flu, and diphtheria.

The most reported disease was pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), followed by hepatitis B, dysentery, syphilis, and measles. These five accounted for 85.61 percent of reported cases.

Rabies was recorded as the deadliest infectious disease with TB, AIDS, hepatitis B, and epidemic encephalitis B also causing a number of fatalities. 89.44 percent of deaths could be attributed to these diseases.

128,781 cases of category C infectious diseases were seen, excluding filariasis, leading to 8 deaths. Of these, infectious diarrhea, mumps, and German measles accounted for 95.77 percent of illnesses.

During June, 413 cases of epidemic encephalitis B were detected indicating a 132.02 percent rise over the same period of last year.

The ministry urged local health departments to strengthen monitoring and improve the reporting of epidemic encephalitis B as this is high season for this type of disease.

(Ministry of Health, July 10, 2007)

Note:
Infectious diseases are classified into A, B, and C in China based on nature, transmission channel, and speed. The most pandemic diseases -- including plague, cholera, and SARS -- fall into the Category A. Category B diseases spread in less easy channels and at a lower speed, including typhoid fever, dengue fever, and scarlatina. Category C is for the least infectious, including tuberculosis, snail fever, mumps, and leprosy.