Twenty-five people have been confirmed to have contracted dengue fever in Zhuhai, a city in south China's Guangdong Province, in the last fortnight, the city's vice mayor Deng Qunfang said on Thursday.

The outbreak of dengue was found in three localities in the city. Local health authorities have also found another 16 suspected cases since Aug. 22, Deng said.

Deng attributed the outbreak to the rainy weather which favored mosquito reproduction but said the outbreak had been brought under control.

The city set up an emergency headquarters to fight the disease on Wednesday and has launched a mass campaign to clean up the city and kill mosquitoes.

The number of imported cases of potentially fatal, mosquito-borne disease has been rising year by year and there have been several local outbreaks in recent years.

(Xinhua News Agency September 7, 2007)