BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

Roach menace grips Beijing

The pest has infested 87% of Beijing's restaurants, 88% of hospitals and three quarters of the city's homes, according to the China Daily.

The invasion has taken city officials by surprise as cockroaches have traditionally been viewed as a blight plaguing southern China.

Reports said that cockroaches did not present much of a problem in the Chinese capital before the 1990s, but were expected to run rampant this winter.

The communist authorities have launched mass poisoning campaigns and mobilised neighbourhood committees to educate the public about the dangers of roaches.

Bacteria

Experts quoted by the China Daily warned that the insects carry more than 40 kinds of bacteria, some of them potentially fatal.

They can squeeze into openings only 1.6mm wide and reproduce every 10 days.

The Beijing Patriotic Health Committee (BPHC), which has asked residents to kill as many roaches as possible, has blamed the growing infestation on a lack of public awareness.

But the China Daily said smaller restaurants - favourite roach hideouts - were unwilling to spend their profits on expensive pesticides.