Spreading disease batters rural areas

Beijing - Nearly 71 percent of China's fatal hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) cases were reported in rural areas, giving a clear sign of the huge rural-urban medical gap, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

The ministry vowed to further enhance medical responses, particularly in vast countryside areas, to curb the raging epidemic.

As of June 22, the common viral epidemic among children has sickened nearly 987,779 on the Chinese mainland. Of that total, 537 died. The majority of those who have gotten ill are younger than 3, said Wang Zijun, deputy director of the emergency response office under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, at a press conference.