The number of people sickened by a cholera outbreak in an east China county has risen to 33, as authorities have closed all street food stalls and restaurants for disinfection.

Wang Lin, deputy head of the health bureau in Mengcheng County, Anhui Province, said Monday among the 33 sickened, 13 have been cured and discharged from hospital.

He said those still suffering from cholera were in isolation in the No. 1 People's Hospital in Mengcheng. The hospital has also taken in another 39 suspected of having cholera for medical examinations.

The health official said the disease which is transmitted through water and food, can be cured and controlled.

"The local government would ensure nobody died from the cholera outbreak," he said.

The cholera outbreak was detected on Aug. 16, when the first three patients were taken into hospital.

Wang said the three people ate at three different restaurants. The provincial health and disease control experts were still working to trace the source of the epidemic in the county of 1 million people.

All street catering businesses including food stalls and Internet cafes have been closed so that their owners can disinfect them.

The county government has also mobilized clean-ups in public places, garbage stations and public washrooms. It is also monitoring tap water quality.

A local woman surnamed Wang attributed the epidemic's cause to low hygiene awareness among the public.

"There are too many street food peddlers and stalls, which offered poor quality food. The catering business had not been well supervised by local authorities," she said.

Zhang Tao, a man who was visiting the county to take care of his ill father, said it was very inconvenient that he could not find cooked food on street. He could only buy some instant food or bread in local supermarkets.

The epidemic had not led to a buying spree in the county.

A local medicine salesman Cai Huai'an said the county had sufficient supplies of diarrhoea medicine as well as disinfectant.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2010)