GUANGZHOU, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- South China's Guangdong Province reported 1,403 new dengue fever cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number to 24,489, local health authorities said on Wednesday.

During the past National Day Holiday which falls on between Oct. 1 to Oct. 7, more than 1,000 new cases were found daily.

The disease has been detected in 20 out of 21 prefecture-level cities in the province. The capital city of Guangzhou has seen the most cases with 20,788, followed by Foshan City with 2,176 cases and Zhongshan City with 352 cases.

So far, a total of six fatalities have been reported by the provincial health and family planning commission, with five in Guangzhou and one in Foshan.

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

The outbreak of dengue this year is believed to be the worst in 20 years.