Twenty-two children are dead and more than 3,500 more are ill in Eastern China due to a virus that has been spreading since March.

The New York Times reported that the intestinal virus, enterovirus 71, or EV-71, is found in children under 6, and mostly in those under 2. It causes fever, mouth ulcers, and blisters on the hands, feet and buttocks. The virus can lead to further complications including lung complications, brain swelling and paralysis in severe cases

An intestinal virus outbreak in Fuyang City in Anhui province has killed 20 children and infected 1,884 kids, according to Xinhua news agency on Wednesday.

The virus, known as enterovirus 71 or EV71, has been spreading since March

The number of children infected with a lethal intestinal virus that started in March in east China's Anhui Province has increased by nearly 700 in the past two days. The outbreak has befallen nearly 1,900 children and had killed 20 by Tuesday, health authorities said Wednesday.

According to a warning by the Anhui Health Bureau's website, the peak outbreak is expected to come in June and July. Though the outbreak began in early March, it was only reported this week

Health authorities in South Korea have placed under quarantine a soldier who developed high fever while culling chickens and ducks to contain an outbreak of bird flu in the country.

The Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention found the 22-year-old corporal to be infected with an H5 strain of the deadly avian influenza virus on Sunday, when he suffered high fever, a symptom of bird flu, according to the JoongAng Daily. He will remain under quarantine until further laboratory tests confirm whether or not the virus is the deadly H5N1 strain

The European Commission (EC) upheld a ban on pigs and pig products from Slovakia after an outbreak of swine fever there last week.

"The ban on the movement of pigs, pig semen, ova and embryos from Slovakia to other European Union (EU) member states and third countries is maintained, pending the completion of epidemiological investigations," an EU statement said