China orders heightened efforts to stop deadly virus

EV-71 sickens thousands; 23 children killed

A child, possibly infected with the intestinal virus called enterovirus 71, also known as EV-71, was being cared for at a hospital in Fuyang, in China's Anhui Province, last week. (Associated Press/EyePress)

BEIJING - The Chinese Health Ministry issued a nationwide alert yesterday over a viral outbreak that has killed 23 children and sickened about 4,500 other people, as it scrambled to fend off a potential scandal over a coverup.

As of yesterday, more than 3,700 cases of the type of enterovirus known as EV-71 were reported in Fuyang's mainly rural outskirts, a rise of 415 in about 24 hours, health officials said.

A total of 22 children died in the Fuyang area and 1,115 people remain hospitalized, 42 of them in serious or critical condition, according to the health department in Anhui Province, where Fuyang is located. Nearly 800 other cases were reported in other parts of Anhui, the health department said on its website.

The latest fatality from EV-71 was an 18-month-old boy in southern Guangdong Province who died Friday. The death was the first outside Fuyang, a fast-growing city in the rural heartland of central China.

The disease has also broken out in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam, although no deaths have been reported.

The virus is a perennial in the summer months in Asia, but the outbreak this year appears to be larger than usual. Because the disease usually peaks in June and July, more deaths are expected.

State-run television yesterday showed footage of workers spraying disinfectant around houses in rural areas outside Fuyang and medical teams visiting families with small children.

Kindergartens in Fuyang have been ordered closed until mid-May, and residents described an atmosphere of panic. One newspaper, the Liaoshen Evening News, printed a large headline reading simply, "Death," next to a photo of a health inspection van parked in front of a kindergarten.

"There are noticeably very few children or infants on the street," said a 24-year-old student from Fuyang who asked not to be identified. "Even some adults are afraid to step out."

Chinese health officials were quoted on state television Friday saying that as part of the nationwide warning, they would send doctors out in search of patients rather than waiting for patients to go to the hospital.

The outbreak comes at a sensitive time for China, in the throes of preparations for the Summer Olympics, which will open in Beijing on Aug. 8. Memories are still fresh from the 2003 epidemic of severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, in which China's reputation suffered from charges of a government coverup.

In this latest case, parents in Fuyang have accused local health officials of lying about the disease. At a news conference, Fuyang officials acknowledged only "several deaths" and implied that the disease was not contagious. At one kindergarten where a child died, staff reportedly were told they would be fired if they leaked news of the death.

"The municipal government used lies to dispel rumors and ordered the departments concerned to shut up," an editorial in the Beijing News charged.

Enterovirus-71 is characterized by fever, sores in the mouth, and blistery rashes. Sometimes known as hand, foot, and mouth disease, it is not related to the similarly named disease that afflicts cattle.

Most cases are not fatal, and the contagion usually can be controlled by hand-washing and improved hygiene, according to a notice posted Thursday by the World Health Organization about the outbreak in China. The agency said "it is not necessary to restrict travel or trade."

While the Health Ministry's alert singled out hand, foot, and mouth disease for particular concern, it also mentioned the risk of hepatitis A, measles, and other infectious diseases.

Stepped up vigilance by health bureaus and hospitals to prevent the spread of infectious diseases was necessary "to guarantee the smooth staging of the Beijing Olympics and Paralympics and to . . . preserve social stability," the order said.

The government's attempts to conceal the emergence of SARS in 2003 contributed to its spread beyond Guangdong in 2003, ultimately causing 774 deaths worldwide and forcing Beijing to apologize to the world.

When avian influenza started killing birds and sickening some people in East and Southeast Asia, Beijing was criticized for not sharing information on outbreaks and virus samples with international health authorities.

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.