A joint task force of China's Ministry of Health (MOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived Tuesday in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province for an inspection on the prevention against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the province.

The 10-member task force is headed by Feng Xueying, an MOH official.

Anhui, with a population of over 60 million, is mainly an agricultural province in China. About 6.5 million Anhui residents are migrant workers across the country.

By 10:00 a.m. Monday, Anhui reported 10 clinically confirmed SARS cases, six of which had been discharged from hospitals.

In China, WHO experts have already visited Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai, Hebei, Guangxi and Henan.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2003)