Death toll from a mass intestinal virus infection rose to 22 after another child died in eastern Fuyang City, Anhui Province, local authorities said on Friday afternoon.

By the wee hours of Friday, 3,321 children had been sickened by the virus, known as enterovirus 71, or EV71, up from 2,946 registered a day earlier, said Wang Yan, a spokesman of Anhui Province.

A total of 978 children remain in hospital, 48 of whom were in critical condition, Wang said. "Authorities in Anhui and Fuyang are doing utmost to treat the children and strengthen disease control."

The Health Ministry also issued a circular Friday to strengthen the management and surveillance of the disease, ordering hospitals to report the disease to the Health Ministry within 24 hours.

"Monitoring of the disease and the search for the infectious cases should be strengthened in heavily stricken areas and in peak seasons," said the circular.

The ministry also told local health departments to report the emergency information timely to the public.

Thirty-two medical specialists dispatched by the Health Ministry and the provincial health department have arrived in Fuyang to direct the rescue work, Wang said.

The province has upgraded its response plan for public health emergency from class three to class two, which means the provincial government has the power to quarantine the patients and control the traffic in and out of Fuyang.

EV71 can cause hand, foot and mouth disease that usually starts with a slight fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on hands and feet.

It may also cause high fever, meningitis, encephalitis, pulmonary edema and paralysis in a small number of children.

(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2008)