Two children have died of hand-foot-mouth disease (HFMD) and another 1,717 cases have been reported since January in Pingdingshan City of central China's Henan Province, local authorities said Monday.

The peak period for the disease is from May to July, but it fell in March this year, said Hou Jiliu, director of the Disease Prevention and Control Center of Pingdingshan City.

The city reported a daily high of 120 cases on March 11, and there are currently 30 to 50 cases reported every day, he said.

Some kindergartens have been closed in Ruzhou City, which is under the administration of Pingdingshan, officials said.

Pingdingshan has spent more than three million yuan (US$439,500) buying treatment equipment to fight the epidemic disease. Schools and kindergartens have been ordered to conduct health checks twice a day.

HFMD is a common illness that mainly affects children under the age of 10. It usually starts with a slight fever followed by blisters and ulcers in the mouth and rashes on the hands and feet. It is spread through contact with the saliva or feces of the infected.

(Xinhua News Agency March 23, 2010)