The encephalitis B outbreak that has killed 27 people in Guangdong Province is now under control, its Vice-Governor Lei Yulan said Tuesday.

A boy cries as he gets an inoculation for encephalitis B at a children's hospital in Guangzhou, capital of China's southern province of Guangdong, June 23, 2003. [Reuters]

But he urged health officials across the province to remain on alert for further cases of the disease.

Encephalitis B, a disease caused by viral inflammation of the brain, is transmitted by the bite of infected mosquitoes and has mostly affected young children in Guangdong.

But less than five encephalitis B cases a day have been reported since June 20 in the province which borders Hong Kong and Macao.

Lei told a work conference on the disease in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, that the infection rate had dropped to new lows.

By Monday evening, 310 confirmed and 50 suspected cases of encephalitis B had been reported in Guangdong Province. The infectious disease normally peaks in the province between May and July.

The province has witnessed a mini-outbreak of encephalitis B since the end of April. The disease has been detected in 18 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong, with only Zhuhai, Foshan and Jiangmen recording no cases.

About 90 per cent of Guangdong's encephalitis B patients are children under 11 years of age.

"Despite our achievements in tackling the disease, we have to continue to exercise vigilance,'' Lei told bureau chiefs from the province.

All children who have not been vaccinated against encephalitis B must be immunized as soon as possible to prevent the disease's recurrence, Lei said.

More than 150,000 children aged from three months to 11 years were immunized against encephalitis B in June.

A special task force of senior health officials, doctors and others was also established late last month to treat patients and monitor the disease.

And a campaign to wipe out mosquitoes has been launched across the whole province.

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