Disinfected Anthrax Tombs No Longer Threat to Yangtze

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, June 14, 2003

Disinfected Anthrax Tombs No Longer Threat to Yangtze

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The remains of humans and livestock who died from the anthrax virus in the early 1980s in southwest China's Chongqing have been properly handled while preparing for the filling of the Three Gorges Reservoir.

Guo Shuyan, vice-director of the State Council Three Gorges Project Construction Committee, said Thursday at a news briefing that no anthrax bacillus has been found in the repeated checks conducted on collected soil samples from the original tomb sites, indicating that the tombs will pose no threat to the waters of theYangtze River once submerged.

The anthrax virus, which can survive up to fifty years, can be traced back to horses used in combat which uccumbed to anthrax and were buried in Fengjie in present-day Chongqing municipality during World War II.

Later, in 1982, several head of livestock became infected while grazing in the burial area.

The infected livestock then passed on the virus to local residents. A total of six people and 13 head of livestock died during that period.

The local health department has prohibited farming, mowing and digging in the area surrounding the 19 tombstones, valid until 2042.

According to Wu Changpei, deputy-director of the Chongqing municipal health department, while conducting sanitary preparations for the filling of the Three Gorges Reservoir, the workers found that all of the 19 tombs were located below the anticipated water line of 135 meters, and should therfore be cleaned up. The clean-up was carried out in September 2002. While workers excavated the tombs, liquefied bleaching powder was sprayed to prevent the dust from dispersing. Once the remains were incinerated with the use of blow torches, large amounts of bleaching powder were used again to sterilize the tomb sites, which were then re-buried and pressed with soil.

According to Wu, the disinfection was carried out not only at the tomb sites, but on all areas within a five meter radius of the tombs. On average, 50 kg of diesel oil and one ton of bleaching powder were used for each of the 19 tombs.

The entire clean-up, which lasted four days, was carried out in favorable weather conditions in the absence of wind and rain, and supervised by the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The anthrax virus, identified by the international community as the key virus for prevention and control after the US September 11th incident, is highly infectious and resistant among both human beings and animals.

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