China's quake zone guarded against diseases

Authorities have stepped up sanitary efforts and set up a monitoring network in an earthquake-hit county in southwest China to prevent an outbreak of contagious diseases.

"Due to our efforts, there has been no epidemic outbreak of any kind so far," Lu Lin, head of Yunnan's provincial center for disease control and prevention, said on Wednesday.

But Lu said the risks remain high as Yiliang County was drenched again by floods this week.

The official said temporary sanitarian centers have been set up in 52 villages in hard-hit areas in Yiliang. Health workers are checking the drinking water at quake refugee camps and disinfecting the areas every day.

Multiple earthquakes -- with the strongest measured at 5.7 magnitude -- struck a mountainous area on the borders of rural Yunnan and Guizhou provinces last Friday, leaving at least 81 people dead in Yiliang, the hardest-hit county.

Relief efforts were hampered by torrential rain that battered the quake zone earlier this week, cutting off roads and water supplies to the county seat. Tents accommodating thousands of homeless quake victims were also soaked.