An expert on preventive medicine has denied reports in a local newspaper and on the Internet that half of Beijing's five-star hotels contain the legionella bacterium that can cause the potentially-fatal Legionnaire's disease.

The reports were wrong and the disease had not been identified anywhere in the city, said Gao Xing, deputy director of the city's research center on preventive medicine.

The reports were based on a 2,000 survey, which was only for academic use, Gao said, referring to a report titled "The Situation of Indoor Environments for Beijing Residents."

In 1996, the city's disease control station began to study the issue as Beijing was to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Gao said, accusing the reporters of failing to explain the facts.

Yu Debin, director of the municipal administration of tourism, said official investigations in 2003 showed that all local five-star hotels met health and hygiene standards.

The United States first reported the first outbreak of Legionnaire's disease in 1976. The legionella bacterium, usually found to reside in air conditioning systems, can cause respiratory or kidney failure.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2004)