Infectious diseases claimed 1,317 lives on the Chinese mainland last month, 48 more than in April, according to the Ministry of Health.

Four people in May were reported to have contracted cholera, a class A infectious disease, but none of them died, a report on the ministry's website said Thursday.

Plague and cholera are categorized as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious class under China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

There were no report of plague on the Chinese mainland last month, the ministry said.

More than 340,000 cases of class B infectious diseases were reported in May. Of those, 1,124 were fatal.

Tuberculosis, viral hepatitis, syphilis, dysentery and measles were the top five infectious diseases in the category, accounting for 93.58 percent of all cases.

In addition, 193 of nearly 460,000 cases of class C infectious diseases reported were fatal in May. About 96 percent of the cases were hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) and infectious types of diarrhea and mumps, according to the report.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2010)