Kuala Lumpur - (dpa) - Malaysian authorities have closed 180 kindergartens due to an outbreak of the hand, foot and mouth disease.

The Malaysian newspaper, The New Straits Times, quoted the Minister of Rural Development, Muhadzir Khalid, as saying that until yesterday, orders were issued to close this number of kindergartens after discovering an outbreak of the disease in the concerned buildings.

He said the damaged buildings would be closed for up to 10 days until it was safe for classes and other activities to resume.