Chinese medical workers in Nepal

Beijing: A group of medical workers from China's Tibet region on Monday reached Nepal to help prevent the outbreak of diseases in border areas following the country's catastrophic earthquake.

The 30 professionals from Tibet's regional health and family planning commission and disease control centre have entered Nepal at Kathmandu's request, Xinhua quoted Wang Hai, head of the medical team, as saying.

While there have been no epidemics in quake-hit Tibetan areas, the Nepalese side of the border faces serious disease prevention challenges, according to Wang.

"If the bodies of victims and dead animals are not dealt with in time, they are very likely to pollute water and soil and cause outbreaks of communicable diseases," he said.

Wang said they would disinfect and bury the bodies, sterilise water sources and eliminate mosquitoes.

He said the job would be carried out in line with locals' religious beliefs and customs.

On Wednesday, a 59-member Chinese medical team reached Kathmandu. As of Friday, they had completed epidemic prevention measures for two camps, 59 tents, 30 garbage dumps and nine collapsed sites.