City on alert for health threats

Beijing has activated a city-wide epidemic reporting system to try to prevent possible heath threats resulting from the rainstorms.

Local health authorities, including hospitals and clinics, have been told to report any cases involving three or more people with symptoms such as fever, diarrhea, pink eye and dermatitis. The public is also encouraged to report to health departments any such cases, according to the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

No intestinal infectious-disease outbreaks have been reported in the districts that were worst hit by the heavy rainfall, including Fangshan and Fengtai, the Beijing CDC said.

The most urgent task is to monitor drinking water supply in affected areas, which are mostly in the countryside, Deng Ying, director of the Beijing CDC, was quoted as saying by the Beijing News on Sunday.

Unlike running water pipes that are usually leak-proof in urban areas, wells in the countryside are sometimes half-open and more susceptible to pollution, Deng said.

Water taken from such wells is still muddy, even if some village doctors have used disinfectants. Samples of the well water will be taken and tested. If confirmed polluted, the water sources will be disinfected until they are safe to be used as drinking water for residents, she said.

The municipal food safety office has tightened checks on meat, water and vegetable products to prevent livestock killed in the storm from being distributed in Beijing's markets, as many livestock have died from drowning in the rainstorms.

In addition to strengthened quarantine tests on livestock products en route to the capital, more screening equipment has arrived in some markets in affected areas to conduct free on-site tests.

Li Yao