China said Thursday that no major disease outbreaks had been reported in the earthquake zone but warned that a battle against epidemics was only just beginning as relief workers recovered bodies.
Some 10,000 trained medical personnel were working in areas worst-hit by Monday’s 7.9 magnitude quake in southwestern Sichuan province, Vice Health Minister Gao Qiang told a press conference.
"Our work is just starting," Gao said. "Our medical personnel on the ground have already reported that no major outbreaks of epidemics have occurred in the quake affected areas."
But a local official expressed concern over the potential of a disease outbreak in the quake-hit region if bodies were not buried soon, China’s official news agency reported.