The Chinese government is mobilizing all the available resources to stop the contagion of enterovirus 71 sweeping the country. Prime Minister Wen Jiabao called State Council Standing Committee on Wednesday and ordered a “hygiene patriotic movement,” urging all civil servants do their best to toughen sanitary inspection on environment and food and stop the spread of virus. Wen warned that epidemics can take hold during the summer season.

EV71 spreads through feces, nasal mucus, and saliva, and can threaten life when it develops into meningitis, pneumonia, and encephalitis. In most cases, it causes foot-and-mouth disease, whose symptoms include high fever and blisters in hands, feet, and in the mouth among children aged between six months to six years old.

Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reported on Thursday that 19,932 people have been infected with EV71 in 22 out of 31 provinces, directly governed cities, and autonomous regions. In Anhui Province, where the disease first broke out, 22 children died. The death toll nationwide has reached 28 in five regions including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Hunan provinces, and Guangxi Autonomous Region.

The Chinese government is especially sensitive to the issue as it fears the epidemic would play against the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in August. Chinese authorities have been issuing daily statements saying that the situation is not as serious as to interfere with the Olympics.

(englishnews@chosun.com )