PHNOM PENH, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Hand, foot and mouth disease ( HFMD), which is caused by enterovirus 71 (EV-71), has reappeared in Cambodia and recently killed a boy and sickened seven other children, a local Kampuchea Thmey Daily newspaper reported Wednesday.
Dr. Ly Sovann, chief of the Health Ministry's Communicable Disease Control Department, told the paper that the disease claimed the life of a boy and sickened seven other children recently.
The disease broke out in the country from April to August in 2012. The severe form of the disease killed at least 57 Cambodian children during that period, according to a joint statement by the Health Ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO).
It had disappeared in 2013 and just reoccurred this year, Ly Sovann told the paper, adding that the ministry has been closely monitoring the situation.
HFMD virus is contagious and infection in spread from person to person by direct contact with nose or throat discharges, saliva, fluid from blisters, or the stool of infected persons, according to WHO. Good hygiene practice can prevent HFMD as, currently, there is no specific treatment available for the disease.