BEIJING, May 14 (AFP) – With the onset of warmer weather and the breeding
season for houseflies and mosquitoes, the Beijing health bureau has ordered
a campaign to kill the nasty insects in an effort to prevent the spread of
SARS, state press reported Wednesday.
“The focal point of the campaign will be areas within 1,000 meters (yards)
of SARS designated hospitals and the fever clinics of hospitals,” the
Beijing Times said.
Also included will be garbage disposal areas, public toilets, and public
transportation points, it said.
Special insect killing activities will be held on one designated weekend for
each of the next four months.
A special list of insecticides was also provided by health authorities, who
warned against the use of the banned pesticide DDT.
The campaign follows a city-wide anti-SARS effort to kill rats that began in
mid-April and consisted of placing rat poison in public places and in
apartment blocks around the capital.
Since finally acknowledging the danger of SARS last month, the nation has
begun a massive prevention campaign, something rarely seen since the
Cultural Revolution when the populace was urged to exterminate “capitalist
roaders” as well as rats and insects.
Other “Cultural Revolution-like” campaigns have included the 1999 effort to
eradicate the banned spiritual group the Falungong.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/ck/Qhealth-sars-china-flies.RPnZ_DyE.html
Category: Special Report
