BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- China's capital will stage a pest extinguishing campaign at gymnasiums and athletes' villages for the 2008 Olympics and their surrounding areas in the coming three years, a local newspaper said on Friday.

    The municipal sanitation authorities and disease prevention and control center have jointly worked out an action plan for control of bacteria/virus-carrying pests and rodents, the Beijing Morning Post said.

    The program will employ scientific means to kill rats, mosquitoes, blackbeetles, ants, lice and fleas at the above-mentioned areas under the precondition of doing no harm to the environment, a senior official with Beijing sanitation authorities was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

    This year the campaign will focus on establishing a diagnosis system for meningitis B, Dengue, West Nile Fever and other diseases that can be carried by pests, the newspaper added. Enditem