A sudden, mini-outbreak of measles in Shanwei in Guangdong Province's east has been brought under control, according to the city's vice-mayor.

A total of 13 measles patients have been discharged from hospitals and 15 others are still under care in stable conditions.

Lu Wenhui, vice-mayor of Shanwei, said the outbreak had now been controlled and no deaths were reported thanks to the effective measures that had been taken.

Only seven suspected measles cases were reported since November 10 in the coastal city of Shanwei.

A total of 28 people aged between 6 and 10 were detected to have contracted the infectious disease in the city's Honghaiwan Economic and Technological Development Zone since November 10. All the victims were from the Tianqianjie Primary School.

They started getting fevers and coughs from 5 pm on November 10 and were sent to a local hospital for emergency treatment. They were all diagnosed the following day.

The causes and sources of the disease are still unknown, Lu said.

The Shanwei Bureau of Public Health has established a task force consisting of senior public health officials, experts and doctors to focus on assisting patients and investigating the matter.

To prevent the disease from spreading further, all pupils from grade 1 to grade 3 at the Tianqianjie Primary School have had a measles inoculation.

And children aged under 10 living in the Honghaiwan Economic and Technological Development Zone have also had inoculations.

Measles is an acute infectious respiratory tract disease that is caused by the measles virus. Symptoms include a cough, fever and runny nose.

It is caused through breathing in flying particles of saliva of an infected person.

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