A four-year-old boy in Sarawak today became the 13th fatality in an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease that authorities have been battling to contain.

The boy died early Tuesday in a hospital in the town of Miri in the state's north as the total number of cases since the outbreak began early this year exceeded 13,200, said the state Bernama news agency.

Deputy Chief Minister George Chan said 62 new cases had been detected in the last 24 hours with infections concentrated in the state's capital Kuching and Miri and Bintulu towns.

"The highest number of new cases detected are in Miri, Kuching and Bintulu," Chan was quoted as saying.

The Health Ministry said last month it was sending a 23-member team of infectious disease experts to the state to help struggling health authorities.

The virus, which causes mouth and throat ulcers, fever and blisters on hands and feet, has infected 13,266 children in Sarawak since an initial outbreak at the end of January and the second round, which started in early May.

Sarawak has been hit periodically by the disease. In the worst outbreak in 1997, 31 people died.