Rome doctors on Friday highlighted the health dangers from overflowing street rubbish brewing toxic fumes in the summer heat.
"With the arrival of the heat in a dirty city in which refuse remains in the streets, the potential dangers for health increase," said Luigi Bartoletti, deputy president of the Rome doctors' guild.
"I don't see the danger of a health emergency in Rome but, without being alarmist, the stench near the rubbish bins is an indication of bacterial contamination.
"All institutions should make choices and propose solutions, because the bins must be emptied, Rome's problem is where to empty them".
Rome Mayor Virginia Raggi has come under fire for the rotting street waste as well as potholes, burning buses and other transport woes.
Earlier this week Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said the government had a plan ready for Rome, which "did not deserve" the poor management it had received from Raggi's three-year-long administration.
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