Infectious diseases claimed 819 lives in China in August with nearly 540,000 cases recorded, the Chinese Ministry of Health said on Monday.

Infectious diseases in China are classified into three categories by the country's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

Last month, 408,714 cases of A Class and B Class infectious diseases occurred, which claimed 806 lives, and 130,919 cases of C Class infectious diseases occurred, which claimed 13 lives.

In August, the top five infectious diseases, accounting for 86.6 percent of the total, were tuberculosis, hepatitis B, diarrhea, syphilis and gonorrhea.

The top five killers were rabies, tuberculosis, AIDS, hepatitis B and encephalitis B, according to the Ministry.

According to the Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, A Class infectious diseases include only two diseases, namely plague and cholera, B Class infectious diseases include 25 diseases such as viral hepatitis and C Class infectious diseases include 10 diseases such as influenza.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2007)