1,280 die of infectious diseases in August

A total of 1,280 people died of infectious diseases on the Chinese mainland in August, the National Health and Family Planning Commission announced on Wednesday.

A total of 563,589 infectious disease cases were reported last month, it said. None of the deaths were a result of Class A diseases, the most serious which include plague and cholera.

About 304,895 cases, which were identified as Class B infectious diseases, caused 1,249 deaths. Hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, dysentery and gonorrhoea accounted for 93 percent of the cases in this category, the statement said.

It added that category C infectious diseases claimed 31 lives last month, with foot-and-mouth disease, infectious diarrhea and mumps being reported most frequently.