Beijing, May 08: China has agreed to allow teams from the World Health Organization to visit the central province of Henan and Guangxi region in the south as fears grow that Sars could explode in the countryside, a who expert said today. A WHO team leaves today for the northern province of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, and will then go to Guangxi this weekend and Henan from May 14.
"The next province I will visit (after Hebei) is Henan province, where I understand there is a concentration of HIV patients," who expert James Maguire, who led the teams that investigated Beijing and the southern province of Guangdong, said.

"So yes, these are really crucial areas that will put us on the frontlines of fighting Sars and are areas that are a top priority for the government.
"We are going at a crucial time because it is absolutely necessary that the proper health procedures are in place in these areas if Sars should break out.”
"We will be in Hebei for five days. I will be going to Henan next Wednesday and I believe a second team will be going to Guangxi over the weekend."
Four who experts were leaving today with staff from China's ministry of health for Hebei, a province of 67 million which is home to some of the capital's "floating population" of migrant workers.
The number of Sars infections in Hebei have more than doubled to 134 in the last week and there are fears that thousands of workers returning home from Beijing will take the virus with them.
Bureau Report