AP Features, May 14th, 2007
Health officials on Monday dismissed media reports that 292 cases of a viral disease common in children had been found in eastern China and that the outbreak had been covered up.
The Shanghai Morning Post said last week that the cases of hand, foot and mouth disease have been reported in Linyi, a city in Shandong province, since late April but the figures had not been released for fear of sparking panic. The newspaper also said a gag order on reporting on the cases had been issued.
Another report on the Qingdao News Web site, based on an Internet bulletin board posting, said 26 children had died in Linyi of a mystery illness and that the local government had quarantined more sick people.
But the Shandong Health Department said only one child had died from hand, foot and mouth disease in April after suffering from heart and lung failure.
Some other cases of the viral infection had been found in some counties and districts, but no other deaths had been reported, the department said in a statement. It did not give any more details.
"The rumors are not in accordance with the real situation and we urge people not to believe them," it said. "As long as effective measures like keeping up individual and public sanitation are in place, the disease will be completely under control."
A man who answered the telephone in the Linyi health bureau's disease control department said he was "unclear" about the situation.
China has in the past been accused of cover-ups and foot-dragging in releasing information about outbreaks of diseases such as bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.
Joanna Brent, a spokeswoman for the World Health Organization's office in Beijing, said the agency had seen the reports and was trying to get more information through official channels.
"The disease is prevalent in Asia," Brent said. "We're trying to learn more about what's going on."
Hand, foot and mouth disease is common in young children and is characterized by fever, mouth sores and a rash with blisters. It is not related to foot and mouth disease, which infects cattle, sheep and swine.
