Anhui Province in eastern China recorded 622 new cases of the intestinal virus known as enter virus 71 on Saturday, the provincial health administration said on Sunday.

The figure, including 362 cases in the worst-hit city of Fuyang, lifted the number of people sickened by the virus to 5,151 in Anhui.

The virus, known as EV71, has killed 22 children in a large outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease in Fuyang and left three boys dead in the southern province of Guangdong.

All kindergartens in Fuyang were ordered to remain closed following the May Day holiday that ended on Saturday, to help prevent the spread of the sometimes fatal virus.

EV71 can cause hand, foot and mouth disease, which usually starts with a slight fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. There is no vaccine.

(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2008)