Infectious diseases killed 603 people in China in January, 600 fewer than the previous month, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.

The mainland recorded four deaths from human bird flu in the month and 20 cases of cholera with no fatalities, it said.

AIDS, tuberculosis, rabies, hepatitis B and hepatitis C were the top five killers, causing almost 90 percent of the deaths.

In January, more than 240,000 cases of class A and B infectious diseases occurred and claimed 593 lives. Of the 66,459 cases of class C infectious diseases recorded, 10 were fatal.

Plague and cholera are categorized as Class A infectious diseases, the most serious, under China's Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases.

Class B infectious diseases include 25 ailments such as viral hepatitis and Class C includes 10 diseases, such as influenza.

The ministry said the incidence and death rate of infectious diseases dropped in 2008, falling by 1.61 percent and 2.96 percent, respectively. There were 5.26 million cases of infectious diseases reported last year, of which 12,622 were fatal.

(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2009)