New outbreaks of hand, foot and mouth disease reported Tuesday in three Chinese provinces and Beijing.

Chinese official Xinhua News Agency said outbreaks in southwest Yunnan, the northeastern province of Jilin and the tropical island of Hainan, putting the total number of infections at 12,164.

At least 26 children in China so far have died from the enterovirus.

Two kindergartens in Beijing were temporarily shut down Tuesday after children there showed symptoms of the disease, Xinhua said.

There have been 1,482 cases in Beijing, most in kindergartens, it said.

Twenty-four of the deaths, in the central province of Anhui and Guangdong province in the south have been blamed on enterovirus 71, one of several viruses that cause the disease, but it wasn't immediately clear which strain of virus killed them, it said.

Although nearly all the deaths have been blamed on the virus known as EV-71, it was not immediately clear how many of the overall infections were traced to it.

Xinhua said in Yunnan only nine of the 113 cases were caused by EV-71.

Enterovirus causes a severe form of hand, foot and mouth disease with symptoms including fever, mouth sores and rashes with blisters. It is easily spread by sneezing or coughing. The viruses mainly strike children ages 10 and younger. Some cases can lead to fatal swelling of the brain.

There is no vaccine or specific treatment, but most children affected by mild forms of the disease typically recover quickly without problems.