Beijing hit with first hand, foot and mouth disease death
BEIJING: China's capital recorded its first death from hand, foot and mouth disease on Wednesday as the authorities tried to contain the spread of the potent virus just three months before the city hosts the Olympic Games. The illness has sickened tens of thousands of children across the country and killed at least 42 people. A child died Sunday on the way to a hospital, according to Xinhua, the official news agency, which cited a Beijing Health Bureau spokeswoman, Deng Xiaohong. The director of the health bureau's publicity office, contacted by telephone, declined to comment.