(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-06 19:27

BEIJING  -- The number of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) cases reported in China this year rose to 12,164 as of Tuesday, resulting in 26 deaths, according to a Xinhua tally of local official figures.

The figure stood at 11,905 on Monday, Xinhua found.

HFMD is caused by more than one type of virus but has similar symptoms, and most of the cases involve young children.

Southwest China's Yunnan Province had 113 cases and the northeastern province of Jilin recorded 65 cases. The southernmost Hainan Province had 81 cases. No deaths have been reported in these provinces, local health authorities said on Tuesday.

In Yunnan, nine cases were caused by the intestinal virus enterovirus 71 (EV71), while the others were caused by the Coxsackie A16 virus and Echo virus, two other kinds of enterovirus, said Duan Hong, the provincial health department deputy director.

Outbreaks have also occurred in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Shaanxi, Henan, Hebei, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Jiangxi and the municipalities of Beijing and Chongqing.

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.

The Coxsackie A16 virus causes most cases of hand, foot and mouth syndrome. The major features are painful mouth ulcers and blisters on the palms, fingers and soles.