ULAN BATOR, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The number of HIV-positive people rose to 262 in Mongolia after seven new cases were registered in the second quarter of this year, the National Statistical Office said in a report Thursday.

More than half of the HIV-infected are people between 20 and 44 years old. About 99 percent of the infections were sexually transmitted, according to the report.

The first case of HIV infection in Mongolia was recorded in 1992. Since then, 40 people have died of AIDS in this East Asia country with a population of more than 3 million.

In the first half of this year, there were a total of 21,827 cases of infectious diseases reported in Mongolia, down by 16.3 percent from a year ago, the report said.