The Health Ministry said it was deploying a team of infectious disease experts to help Sarawak combat an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth virus.

Twelve children in Sarawak have been killed by the disease since it started spreading at the beginning of the year, with nearly 13,000 infected so far, according to Bernama .

The ministry's director for disease control, Ramlee Rahmat, said the 23-member team, including three infectious disease specialists, would be sent to Sarawak for two weeks.

Source of transmission

"It is a delicate task and would require some time before the outbreak can be fully contained. We will help the health authority there to identify the source of transmission," Ramlee was quoted as saying.

"The team would be deployed to various places in Sarawak under the instruction of the state health authority," he said, adding that the state had a shortage of health personnel.

The virus, which causes mouth and throat ulcers, fever and blisters on hands and feet, has infected 12,893 children in Sarawak since an initial outbreak at the end of January and the second round, which started in early May.

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