Guangdong is still free from the RSV virus which is striking the bordering Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, an official from the Epidemic Disease Research Institute under Guangdong Provincial Centre of Disease Prevention and Control said on Friday.

Guo Runing said his centre had not received any RSV-related cases.

But Guo added his centre has issued a circular to urge hospitals and doctors across the entire province to pay special attention to preventing the infectious disease, particularly during the coming winter months.

Winter is usually the peak period for flu and respiratory tract diseases in Guangdong Province, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The RSV virus is a flu-and-SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)-like virus which causes mainly respiratory tract and lung diseases, Guo said.

The symptoms mainly include a fever, coughing, a running nose and tiredness. The disease usually has an incubation period lasting from four to five days.

Wang Zhiqiong, deputy director-general of the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health, said her bureau had not received any reports on RSV cases either.

But Guangdong has got ready for fighting any epidemics that might strike the province, said Wang.

The bureau has established a special task force that consists of senior doctors, experts and government officials to focus on studying, preventing and treating diseases caused by the RSV virus, despite no such cases having been reported in the province.

Wang believed Guangdong would not witness a large scale outbreak of RSV like the one in Hong Kong.

Wang's confidence was based on Guangdong's advanced prevention and treatment system and the great efforts Guangdong provincial government has made in fighting epidemic diseases in the wake of this year's SARS outbreak.

The Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Public Health has vaccinated more than 100,000 children in the whole province against flu since August in a bid to prevent the spread of RSV.

Wang said her bureau would focus on vaccinating children who have followed their migrant worker parents to Guangdong.

Wang also urged local residents to pay attention to their personal hygiene and try to shun crowded places during the peak period for any possible flu outbreak.

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