At least 13 people have died of hand-foot-mouth disease this year in east China's Shandong Province, local health authority said Saturday.

Two boys from Heze City died Friday. One of them was from Yuncheng county and the other Chengwu county, according to the provincial health administration.

The administration did not provide further details about the two latest victims of the contagious disease.

Heze has registered eleven deaths from the disease in the outbreak and Jining City two since the first victim, a 20-month boy, died in Heze on March 22.

Heze,the worst-hit area of Shandong, confirmed another 241 cases of the disease Friday, bringing the total number of infections to 4,033, of which 205 were in serious condition. So far, 2,859 have recovered.

More than eighty experts on the provincial level from ten medical institutions have been sent to Heze to reinforce the assistance to local medical service.

The disease, which is more common in summer and autumn, is not included in the routine reporting list of infectious diseases in China.

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.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2009)