GUANGZHOU - Thirty-seven people have been confirmed as having contracted dengue fever in Zhongshan City in south China's Guangdong Province, local authorities said on Saturday.

As of Friday afternoon, all 37 patients were found in five localities in the city's Huangpu Township since July 16, and it is likely that more cases will be reported, the Guangdong provincial disease control and prevention center said.

He Jianfeng, an expert from the disease control and prevention center, said the patients have been hospitalized, showing mild symptoms of muscle pains and skin rashes.

None of them had made trips to Southeast Asia, where most infections occur, indicating that the outbreak is not imported, according to He.

He attributed the outbreak to the rainy weather which favored mosquito reproduction and said the situation had been brought under control.

The number of contractions of the potentially fatal, mosquito-borne disease has been rising year on year. Experts have warned about controlling and preventing the mosquito bites that transmit it.