BEIJING — The Chinese Health Ministry issued a nationwide alert Saturday over a virus that has killed 23 children and sickened more than 4,000 others, as it scrambled to fend off a potential scandal over a coverup.
The latest victim of enterovirus-71 was an 18-month-old boy in southern Guangdong province who died Friday. The death was the first outside the Anhui province city of Fuyang, 1,000 miles to the north.
Disease also has broken out in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Vietnam, although no deaths have been reported there. The virus is a perennial in the summer 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.
Kindergartens in Fuyang have been ordered closed until mid-May, and residents described an atmosphere of panic. One newspaper printed a large headline reading, “Death,” next to a photo of a health inspection van at a kindergarten.
Enterovirus-71 is characterized by a fever, sores in the mouth and blistery rashes. The Associated Press
