Infectious diseases kill 1,336 in China in June

BEIJING - A total of 1,336 people died of infectious diseases in the Chinese mainland in June and AIDS was the most deadly, revealed the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Wednesday.

AIDS caused 966 deaths last month, according to a statement issued by the commission. Tuberculosis was the second-biggest killer, claiming 125 lives.

No deaths from H7N9 avian flu were reported last month, the statement said, adding there was one infection with the virus reported in east China's Jiangsu Province and the patient has recovered.

A total of 743,216 infectious disease cases were reported in the Chinese mainland last month, it said.

Among them, six cases of cholera were reported but none of them resulted in death. Plague and cholera are categorized as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious bracket.

In addition, about 306,230 cases were identified as Class B infectious diseases. Hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, dysentery and gonorrhea accounted for 93 percent of the cases in this category, the statement said.

It added that category C infectious diseases claimed 58 lives in June, with foot-and-mouth disease, infectious diarrhea and mumps reported the most frequently.