East China's Zhejiang Province reported Wednesday its first death from hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) this year.

A child in Cixi, Ningbo city died Sunday hours after he was admitted to hospital, said Zhang Leming, head of the Ningbo Municipal Health Bureau, Wednesday.

The child developed symptoms of fever and rashes on his hands and feet last Friday and was sent to a community clinic on Sunday.

Because of his severe illness, he was moved to the Cixi Municipal No. 2 People's Hospital and retransferred to the Cixi Municipal People's Hospital.

The health bureau provided no details of the child.

Ningbo city had reported 367 cases of infections from the highly contagious disease as of April 5, said Zhang.

Cases have also been reported in Beijing. The city has reported more than 1,000 cases this year, according to a statement issued by Beijing Health Bureau on Wednesday.

"The number of infected children has been growing fast recently in the city," the statement said.

It said that nearly 90 percent of the infected children are below the age of five.

"kindergartens which reported more than 20 cases or two severe cases within one week should be shut down for a thorough inspection," the statement said.

China's central Henan Province and neighboring Shandong Province have reported at least 31 deaths from the hand-foot-mouth disease outbreak so far this year.

According to the Ministry of Health, HFMD can be caused by a host of intestinal viruses, but EV71 and the Coxsackievirus (Cox A16) were the most common.

HFMD usually starts with a slight fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. Those with EV71 often show serious symptoms. It can also lead to meningitis, encephalitis, pulmonary edema and paralysis in some children. There is no vaccine.

(Xinhua News Agency April 9, 2009)