GUANGZHOU - South China's Guangdong province reported 1,047 new cases of dengue fever on Friday, local health authorities said Saturday.

The total number of dengue fever cases reached 36,889 as of Saturday, according to the provincial health and family planning commission.

Among the 1,047 newly-infected, 378 were hospitalized on Friday, bringing the number of dengue patients in hospital to 2,482. More than 12,000 affected people have left hospital after being cured, according to the commission.

Guangzhou, the provincial capital, was the hardest hit city. The disease has been detected in 20 out of 21 prefecture-level cities in Guangdong.

Six people have died in Guangdong - five in Guangzhou and one in the adjacent Foshan city.

The water bureau in Guangzhou, China's third-largest city, has reacted to the mosquito-borne disease by adding mosquitofish to controllable static waters to combat a surge in dengue fever.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne, potentially fatal disease that affects between 50 million and 100 million people in tropical and subtropical regions every year, causing fever combined with muscle and joint aches.

Some 23 provinces or regions of China including Zhejiang, Fujian, Yunnan and Guangxi have also detected hundreds of dengue infection cases this year.