One died, four infected by pig-borne disease in China

Another four people have been infected by a pig-borne disease in southern China, and one has died, the government said Monday, one day after an epidemic in another part of the country was declared under control.

According to AP, the infections were reported in four different areas in Guangdong province, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing information released by the provincial government.

No pigs were reported sickened by Streptococcus suis, the bacteria blamed for the human cases, Xinhua said. It wasn't immediately clear how the people were infected, but the disease is usually passed on through contact with raw pork or sick swine. The report did not say if person-to-person transmissions were involved.

Two of the infected people were still in hospital, Xinhua said, without providing more details.

On Sunday, China's ministries of health and agriculture said that an outbreak of the disease in Sichuan province, hundreds of kilometers (miles) northwest of Guangdong, had been brought under control.

At least 38 people died in the epidemic, which was first detected in June, mostly farmers who butchered or handled infected pigs. More than 200 people were sickened.

Symptoms include high fever, nausea and vomiting, followed by meningitis, hemorrhaging under the skin, toxic shock and sometimes coma. Some patients have also suffered organ failure.

Pockets of infection have been discovered in recent days. Last week, two deaths were reported in Jiangsu province in the east, and Hong Kong has found a handful of cases in the past month.

In June, two human cases were reported in Guangdong.