Epidemic control teams rapidly dispatched to quake-hit region in NW China

BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A state-level task force has been rapidly dispatched to the quake-hit region of northwest China's Gansu Province to assist and supervise epidemic control and sterilization work, the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration said on Tuesday.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has arranged for experts to evaluate public health risks resulting from the quake, the administration said in a press release.

Three state-level epidemic control emergency response teams stationed in Gansu and the neighboring Qinghai Province have sent key members to the affected region, the statement said.

The provincial epidemic control departments of Gansu and Qinghai have mobilized local staff to work in the quake-hit region.

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake jolted a county in Gansu at midnight on Monday. As of Tuesday evening, the earthquake has killed 127 people -- 113 people in Gansu and 14 in Qinghai -- and injured hundreds. It also damaged houses and infrastructure like water, electricity, transportation and communications.