More miners detected with black lung disease in Australia's

SYDNEY, Aug. 11(Xinhua) -- Three more Australian miners based in Queensland have been diagnosed with black lung disease, local media reported on Thursday.

However, Australia's mining union CFMEU believed that there were more cases of those with the disease but many were refusing to come forward as they feared about losing their jobs.

In March, Xinhua reported that up to 1,000 coal miners in Queensland were feared to have contracted the black lung disease, 30 years after it was supposedly eradicated in Australia.

The black lung disease is caused by long exposure to coal dust and is common among coal miners and others who work in similar industries.

The disease resurfaced in Australia last December after Queensland state authorities confirmed that three of its coal miners had tested positive to black lung back then.

Coal miners in Queensland are required to undergo a medical assessment, once every five years, prior to starting work to detect any diseases including black lung, however, CFMEU claims that radiologists in the state weren't qualified to do such testing.