The World Health Organization said the upcoming Beijing Olympics are in no danger from a highly infectious virus that has killed 24 children in China.

The comment from the U.N. agency's leader in Beijing comes as Chinese health officials accelerate their efforts to contain the virus which has been seen in two provinces.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said an 18-month old boy who died Friday had enterovirus 71, known as EV-71. Another child who died in the same district a week earlier also tested positive.

The virus is a type of hand, foot and mouth disease that children are susceptible to.

As of Sunday, nearly 4,500 cases of EV-71 had been reported in a province in central China's rural heartland.