Some villagers stung by the notorious Solenopsis invicta, or red imported fire ants, in the Wuchuan City of Guangdong were taken to hospital for sting wounds recently, it was revealed Tuesday.

The revelation came as agricultural authorities in Hong Kong stepped up inspection of potted floral imports from the mainland and local farms to prevent the ants from getting into the SAR. Traders were also asked to take extra precautions.

China Daily understood that among the locals attacked by the fire ants in Wuchuan, less than 10 people suffered conditions so serious that they had to be rushed to the hospital for immediate treatment. All of them are safe.

"Their wounds were red and swollen but they are safe now after getting treatment at the local hospital. They were stung by the fire ants found in the garbage sites," a source said.

The Guangdong Plants Protection Station (GPPS) said there was no evidence that the ants had spread beyond Wuchuan even though quarantine inspection was also stepped up for potted plants in Chenchuan and other districts of the province.

Head of GPPS, Chen Zhongnan, said that since the ants were found, investigation units from all levels of the provincial government had arrived in Wuchuan to "examine, sample and identify the ants".

"We will keep the province under constant surveillance," Chen said.

The crackdown was ordered when the Ministry of Agriculture declared on January 17 that "Wuchuan and a few Guangdong districts" were infected with red imported fire ants, classifying them as pests capable of causing harm to animals and crops.

The declaration required the infected areas to be sealed off and actions taken to bring the situation under control.

In Wuchuan Tuesday, local villagers told the media that the reddish-brown ants were first spotted six months ago after garbage and plastic wastes were imported from Taiwan, Guangzhou and Macao for recycling. The villagers said the numbers peaked in June and July when many people were stung by the ants. A man said his son, who was stung by the ants, suffered painful and inflamed sting wounds and he had to take him for a medical "injection".

There were still a number of ant mounds in the district as of Tuesday. At one stage, the villagers were so desperate that they set fire to a plot of land in the hope of killing the ants. But the little insects survived.

According to assistant professor Billy Hau of the University of Hong Kong's Department of Ecology and Biodiversity, it is the first time that Solenopsis invicta has been found on the mainland. The ants can adapt to a new environment quickly, he said. Once established, they are very difficult to eradicate.

The SAR government expressed concern over the development on red fire ants Tuesday.

Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, York Chow, said the Agricultural, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) was liaising with their mainland counterparts over the situation.

Chow said they would look into the threat that the red imported fire ants could pose to the SAR.

A spokesman for the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau said the government was informed of the red imported fire ant threat from Shenzhen officials on Monday. Tuesday morning, AFCD officers were dispatched to inspect imports of potted plants at the border and local farms in the northern district.

The spokesman said that when the trade reported to them on January 17 that potted plants for supply to the SAR could not pass mainland customs clearance, the SAR authorities immediately contacted their counterparts through the established notification system.

"But it was not until Tuesday (January 24) that notification was received from Shenzhen government that 'red (imported) fire ants' were found in some parts of Guangdong. As a result, the Shenzhen inspection and quarantine bureau activated its emergency measures and acted in accordance with the law to quarantine the potted plants for export to Hong Kong," the spokesman said.

As of Tuesday, no fire ants were found in the floral imports and farms in the SAR, the spokesman added.

The stepped-up inspection will continue.

Chow said the quarantine for red imported fire ants would be sped up after more officers were assigned by the mainland authorities to inspect floral exports due for the SAR.

(China Daily HK Edition January 26, 2005)