China's Ministry of Health reported a total of 1,874 rabies cases in China during the first eight months of this year, with 1,735 deaths.

The figure is up 29.2 percent on last year, the ministry said.

The cases were found in 21 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities across China including Guizhou, Guangxi, Hunan, Guangdong and Hubei.

The ministry said that China ranks second in the world after India in terms of the number of rabies cases.

Every year more than 50,000 people around the world died of the disease, with most of them living in developing countries.

(Xinhua News Agency September 27, 2006)