Mass burials unnecessary, say health experts

Dead bodies could not cause outbreaks of disease, the Pan American Health Organisation said, in a bid to avert mass burials of tens of thousands of unidentified victims from the quake disaster in Asia and Africa.

There is no danger of bodies contaminating water or soil because bacteria and viruses cannot survive in dead bodies, says Dana Van Alphan, an adviser to the organisation’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief.