A two-year-old boy has become the eleventh child to die in an epidemic of hand, foot and mouth disease in Sarawak, a official said yesterday.

Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan said the boy died on Friday but described the death as an isolated case.

The state has been battling the outbreak since February and the number of cases had declined in recent months.

The critically ill boy was first admitted to a local hospital Thursday but died the following day despite being flown to Miri hospital.

Cases drop

Chan said the number of new cases had dropped to around 200 to 250 per week since mid-April from between 1,000 and 1,300 cases per week previously.

The illness affects mainly infants and young children, causing painful mouth and throat ulcers, fever and blisters on hands and feet.

The Health Ministry on March 3 ordered the closure for a few weeks of all 488 kindergartens and child-care centres in Sarawak, which is on Borneo island.

Sarawak has been hit periodically by the disease. In the worst outbreak in 1997 31 people died.