Brunei shuts schools to curb viral disease

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Mar 9 (Reuters) Brunei has ordered the closure of all primary and nursery schools after the Southeast Asian kingdom reported its first death from the hand, foot and mouth viral disease, the government said today.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a viral infection common in children and results in fever, mouth sores and a blistering rash, usually on the hands and feet. It is unrelated to foot-and-mouth disease, a disease of cattle, sheep and swine.

The tiny sultanate on the forest-covered island of Borneo is taking the precautionary step after health authorities reported 32 cases with one death, that of a two-year-old boy, this week, the education ministry said in a statement.

''The figure of reported cases ... is at a high level, but not high enough to be regarded as an outbreak,'' the ministry said.

Brunei said it advised its citizens against travelling to the neighbouring Malaysian state of Sarawak, which has reported nearly 3,300 cases, including four deaths, in Malaysia's worst outbreak of the disease since 1997.

Children are most susceptible to the illness, but adults can also be affected.

Malaysia reported 13 cases of the disease in 2001, in its southern-most state of Johor, bordering Singapore. The previous year, four children died of the disease, and an outbreak in 1997 killed 13.

REUTERS SI KP1134