Curing the 'disease from history'

More than 70 years after World War II, elderly people in villages in East China may at last find relief from the effects of Japanese biological weapons. Zhao Xu reports.

Sitting in the dark in his small house, with a colorful painting of the God of Fortune hanging on the wall, Wei Hongfu was as immobile as the wooden beams that have supported his roof for the past 40 years.

"New ulcers and old scars - they never heal and probably never will," he said, rolling up his pants legs. Creeping across the lower part of both legs was a sprawling, grotesque, black and brown bulge, veined by pinkish flesh that resembled a spider's legs. Underneath it were bubbles of pus that seemed never to recede. "Sometimes, it relents for a period of time, only to make a vehement comeback and invade more (of my legs)," he said.

Yet on a warm morning in early May, the 88-year-old was told that the ailment that has tormented him since he was 14 may soon come to an end.

"They've had their hopes rise and fall so many times that most of them dare not hope anymore," said Wu Jianping, who brought the news to Wei. Wu is the head of a pressure group called Victims of the Japanese Germ War in Quzhou, a prefecture-level city in Zhejiang province.

"In Quzhou today, we have about 170 men and women, mostly in their 70s and 80s, with the same symptoms as Wei. Many have sought permanent relief before, but were told that the condition is incurable," he said. "However, for the past six months, more than 30 of them have received treatment at Quhua Hospital. Apart from one relapse, the results have been good so far."