Parents in the central Chinese city of Fuyang were yesterday warned to keep an eye on the health of their children, after more than 20 infants were killed and thousands more left hospitalised by a highly contagious disease.

A virulent form of hand, foot and mouth disease has killed 22 young children in the dirt-poor industrial city in central Anhui province. Another four have died in two other provinces and officials say the illness may have yet to reach its peak.

The Ministry of Health has issued a national alert, and the minister heads a special task force to try to curb the spread of enterovirus 71, or EV71, that has now infected nearly 10,000 people - mainly children - across China. The disease spreads through direct contact with the mucus, saliva or faeces of an infected person. Young children are usually the most susceptible because of their less developed immune systems.

The ministry appealed for any sick children “to be sent immediately to health clinics” and for people to report cases to local health and education departments as soon as possible.

All of the 8,573 children infected in the provinces of Anhui, Guangdong, Hunan, Hubei, Sichuan and Jiangsu, as well as in Beijing, are below the age of six. The majority are under two.

But worst hit has been Fuyang, were more than 5,000 children are in hospital, dozens fighting for their lives.

China’s usually docile state media have accused the government of exacerbating the outbreak because it was slow to report the disease. Local newspapers have compared the government’s sluggish response to delays in investigating a fake powdered milk scandal in the city four years ago when 200 infants fell ill and 13 died.

The China Daily cited both the milk scandal and the cover-up five years ago of the Sars epidemic in an editorial critical of the government’s slow response to the latest tragedy in Fuyang. It said: “The memory of the last tragedy only adds to the bitterness of the new one.”

World Health Organisation officials have said the government did not try to cover up the infection, but was slow in identifying the disease because it showed unusual symptoms. Fuyang hospitals began admitting children with fevers, blisters, mouth ulcers and rashes early last month, but on April 15 a local health official denied there was an epidemic. The 40-day delay in announcing the illness has triggered heated debate in state media.

Now kindergartens across Fuyang have been closed and parents are being told to wash their childrens hands frequently.

Hans Troedsson, the World Health Organisation representative in China said he saw no health risk for the Olympics in Beijing in August.

“The concern would be if we saw a continuous peak of the disease," he said.

"At the same time, where I am cautiously positive is that we now know what is causing this outbreak, and that the government has taken action.”

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