Authorities in Anhui have set up a province-wide daily reporting system to monitor a lethal virus that has killed 19 children and made 915 others sick in Fuyang city.

The move comes after local officials failed to alert the public to a possible epidemic.

Enterovirus (EV) 71 can cause hand, foot and mouth disease, which usually starts with a slight fever followed by ulcerated blisters in the mouth and on the hands and feet.