The Ministry of Health said here Monday no major outbreak of epidemic diseases or other public health threats had been reported in areas hit by the disastrous earthquake.

The ministry said the 1,380-member epidemic diseases prevention squads have treated 7,897 corpses and 38,000 dead animals. They also sterilized 27,860 manure pits and removed mosquito and fly-gathering spots, origins of public health hazards.

The powerful tremor, 8.0 degrees on the Richter scale, jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province in May 12 afternoon. The quake claimed at least 32,476 lives and injured 220,000.

The ministry has dispatched 700,000 human vaccines, 45 tonnes of disinfectant powder and 200 sprayers to the quake-hit areas.

A total of 713 medical workers were also sent to monitor drinking water safety, the ministry said.

Considering shortage of hospital beds in those areas, the ministry requested the adjacent municipality and provinces, Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan and Shaanxi, to reserve 6,000 hospital beds for some heavily injured transferred from the quake-hit areas.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)