MEXICO CITY, Feb. 26 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 62 people, mostly children under five, have died in diarrhea caused by rotavirus in Central America, reports here said Saturday.

    The reports quoted health ministries of these countries as saying that 108,403 cases of diarrhea had been reported this year in Central America, with Nicaragua reporting the highest toll of 32.

    Nicaragua had 27,997 confirmed cases of diarrhea until last weekend, most of which were found in the northern departments of Madriz and Esteli.

    El Salvador, in which the highest number of 73,274 cases were reported, keeps a state of emergency declared on Feb. 8 in the most affected departments of San Salvador, La Libertad and La Paz, the reports said.

    At least 20 people have been killed by the disease in El Salvador.

    Rotavirus had also killed eight children in Guatemala, where the health authorities had reported 700 possible cases of the disease, of which 386 had been confirmed.

    Honduras has not reported any diarrhea cases this year, although in 2004 it reported 236,966 cases, mostly among children below five years of age, the reports said. Enditem