China rules out post-quake epidemics

YONGAN, China (Reuters) - China said on Monday it couldguarantee there would be no epidemics in the earthquake zone,while some survivors complained their farmland was beingbulldozed to make way for temporary housing.

Where bodies crushed under buildings in the devastating May12 tremor could not be cremated, they had been buried deepunderground and far from water sources to preventcontamination, Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qunan said.

Camps had been disinfected and people warned of healthrisks.

"Theoretically, when there is a large movement of people,the risk increases for the spread of transmittable diseases,"he said on a webcast on central government website www.gov.cn

"We have the ability and the confidence to guarantee therewill be no epidemics after the disaster."

China has mobilised its military to unblock roads, clearrubble and deliver food, water and tents to millions displacedby the quake. Rescuers are racing to clear swollen "quakelakes" and set up housing before the summer rainy seasonbegins.

A total of 69,019 people have been confirmed dead as ofmidday on Monday, with 18,627 missing and 373,573 injured.

A tent city has sprung up in Anxian, just off a main roadrunning through mountain fields of corn and watermelons.

Pre-fabricated houses are going up, as they are elsewhere,to provide more long-term shelters away from the stifling heatof leaky tents.

The people, mostly farmers from Chaping near the epicentreof the quake, have nothing to do.

Zhang Zhaohua, 24, sat in her tent with her 22-month-oldboy and said adults could stand the heat and the unusual dietof instant noodles, served morning and night.

"It's fine for us, but not for the little ones," she said.

In nearby Yongan, 95 percent of the houses areuninhabitable, but many people survived the quake because theywere out in the fields when it struck in the early afternoon.

Some were grumbling that their farmland, with crops alsoincluding beans, cabbages and citrus fruit, was now beingbulldozed for the prefab housing.

"Our biggest concern is the future and how we will live,"one woman said. "The government is using our land, so how arewe meant to earn anything?"

Local official Zhang Piwu could not give a timeline forrepairing those houses which remained, damaged but intact.

"The government has not released the plan yet," he said."It's a very sensitive subject for the people. It's what thepeople are most concerned about."

The earthquake has gripped China, unleashing a flood ofdonations and volunteers to help in relief work. Domestic andforeign donations have reached 41.7 billion yuan (3 billionpounds).

Troops withdrew from a dangerous quake lake formed by amassive landslide at Tangjiashan after clearing a channel forwater to flow out from behind the blockage. The water had risento within seven metres of the lowest point of the unstablenatural dam by this weekend, threatening downstreamcommunities.

Trucks trundled across Sichuan with materials forpre-fabricated housing.

In Yingxiu, dynamite was being used to clear rubble andunsafe buildings. Workers vigorously sprayed disinfectant asovercast and muggy weather settled in.

"As time goes by, the major killers of inpatients aremultiple organ failure and complicated drug-resistantinfection, instead of crush syndrome and acute renal failure inearly periods after the quake," ministry spokesman Mao said.

He said deep burial of the dead in Sichuan had been"scientifically handled" and water sources would not becontaminated.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard; Writing by NickMacfie; Editing by Jerry Norton)