Chinese provinces are drawing on their experience handling the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) to cope with the global swine flu outbreak.

Huang Fei, deputy director of the health bureau in south China's Guangdong Province, said Wednesday that the bureau had designated three provincial-level hospitals to treat suspected swine flu cases and ordered all urban health departments to designate one hospital for the disease.

"We have organized medical experts and staff who had experience in treating SARS patients and prepared lab testing equipment in these hospitals, where suspected swine flu-like symptoms can be tested as soon as possible," said Huang.

Guangdong, neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, was one of the worst hit in the SARS outbreak in 2003, when 21 people died from the disease.

The Ministry of Health confirmed Tuesday that tests on the first suspected swine flu cases, in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, were negative.

Exams by the disease control center in Xi'an, the provincial capital, showed that sick children had contracted B-type influenza, which is common in humans.

He Jianfeng, head of the epidemic disease research institute under the Guangdong Center of Disease Control, said many people called the center asking about immunization against swine flu.

"We advise people to take human flu vaccines. [All kinds of flu] usually peak in May and June, and there is no effective vaccine available for swine flu," he said.

Health departments in other provinces such as Hunan and Shandong are also organizing to deal with swine flu, if and when it reaches China. However, no provinces have declared health emergencies because of the flu.

Although there has been no public panic, service industries have been told to step up hygiene practices and awareness, as the disease is still spreading worldwide.

For example, a worker in a downtown shopping mall in this capital of Guangzhou said they cleaned elevator buttons with alcohol hourly.

Health and market regulators have also stepped up inspections of the pig farms, slaughter houses and markets.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2009)