China's Ministry of Agriculture announced Tuesday that
quarantine orders have been lifted on three areas hit by the H5N1
strain of bird flu.
The areas are Songming County and Guandu District, of Kunming
City in southwestern Yunnan Province, and the Wild Animal Park, of
Shenzhen City in southern Guangdong Province.
No new avian influenza cases had been detected in the areas for
21 consecutive days since the last birds were destroyed, said a
ministry spokesman.
Experts on animal epidemics and officials concluded after
inspections that the disease had been eradicated in these areas and
they met the requirements for the lifting of isolation orders as
stipulated in the Emergency Countermeasures Against Avian Influenza
and the Technical Standards Regarding the Fight Against Avian
Influenza.
The ministry said two bird flu affected areas were still under
quarantine, and it had received no reports of new suspected or
confirmed bird flu cases on Monday. No cases of suspected bird flu
had been reported anywhere on the mainland for 22 consecutive days
since Feb. 17.
(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2004)