A thick pall of smoke often hung over the city during December, January and February as fires swept outlying areas for a total of 16 days during this period.

"The City of Cape Town's monitoring reports on the pollution levels shows that the number of days when pollution levels were potentially hazardous to health were higher during these three months than in previous years," James Vos, of the city council's health committee, said in a statement.

Ivan Bromfield of the city's health department said fire pollutant particles caused a range of health problems, such as asthma, irritation of the eyes, throat and lungs, and could lead to respiratory or heart disease.

"Air pollution leads to more hospital admissions and visits to emergency departments, increasing the burden on the city's health care services. It also reduces productivity through lost working days," he said.

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Beijing (AFP) May 1, 2009
China's manufacturing activity expanded in April to its highest level for a year, according to data released Friday, in an indication that the nation's economy might be showing signs of recovery.