No epidemics after China earthquake

BEIJING, May 17 (UPI) -- Despite the large-scale devastation from last week's China earthquake, disease epidemics have so far been prevented, government officials said Saturday.

Officials of China's Ministry of Health told the state-run Xinhua news agency that the country had 34,000 medical workers and disease control staff working in the worst hit areas in Sichuan province. The health ministry also said that hospitals in the province had received 116,460 patients, including 15,858 severely wounded victims.

China's vice minister of health, Gao Qiang, told Xinhua that he has promised to prevent any epidemic outbreak, adding that all the local governments in Sichuan have disease prevention programs in place.

Meanwhile in Beichuan, China, thousands of rescuers and earthquake victims fled in panic Saturday because they feared a dam had burst and a wall of water was approaching, CNN reported. However, no water was seen despite warnings from military personnel to evacuate a low-lying area near a river.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International