Though the incidence and death rates of hand-foot-mouth disease in China is normal compared with overseas regions, the country's Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) warns of long-term outbreaks among the large populations in certain regions.

Hand-foot-mouth disease is a common childhood illness that mainly affects children under the age of 10. Symptoms include fever, sores in the mouth and a rash with blisters. It can sometimes be fatal if complications occur.[CFP]

Zhang Jing, a CDCP official in charge of intestinal infection prevention told Xinhua Monday that the disease had been "obviously spreading" since mid-March.

Zhang said as the country had been officially monitoring the disease for about a year, they lacked historical figures to judge if the epidemic was worse than previous years.

The disease might continue to spread in the next two months since its usual peak season is between May and July, she added.

As of April 15, 25 patients, among 30,844 cases reported, died from the disease in central China's Henan province. And 19 out of 17,158 cases died in Shandong Province.

In the latest case, a 29-month-old boy died in a Shanghai hospital on April 16 after being transferred from east China's Anhui province -- six days after he fell ill.

Zhang stressed that the disease won't be spread nationwide as it is not mainly transferred through respiratory systems like SARS, measles and other highly-infectious diseases.

Hand-foot-mouth disease is a common childhood illness that mainly affects children under the age of 10. Symptoms include fever, sores in the mouth and a rash with blisters. It can sometimes be fatal if complications occur.

The CDCP has sent expert teams to worse-hit provinces including Hunan and Shandong to direct the disease prevention work. Up to now, labs have been set up in all 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across the country to research on the disease.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that this year a total of 50 children died from the disease as of April 7, with 115,000 cases reported.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2009)