Investigators from the World Health Organization (WHO) were preparing to head into rural areas of China this morning amid fears of a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic in the countryside.
Four WHO experts accompanied by staff from Chinas Ministry of Health were due to visit Hebei, a province of 67 million neighbouring Beijing and home to some of the capitals "floating population" of migrant workers.
The number of SARS infections in Hebei has more than doubled to 134 in the last week, and there are fears that thousands of workers returning home from Beijing will take the virus with them.
The WHO has said China holds the key to halting the global spread of SARS, which has left nearly 500 dead and infected more than 6,900 people in around 30 countries since it first emerged in southern China last November.
Since China's government admitted covering up the severity of its SARS epidemic on April 20th, the country's efforts to combat the disease have focused largely on Beijing.
Almost 18,000 people are now under quarantine in the capital, which has seen 110 deaths from SARS, and more than 2,000 infections, out of nationwide totals of 219 and 4,560 respectively.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said authorities were now turning their attention to other regions and warned the health-care infrastructure in rural areas would struggle to cope if SARS spread to the countryside.
AFP