Quarantine was lifted from four more bird flu epidemic areas
Wednesday, bringing to seven the total number of affected areas in
China now declared flu-free, said Jia Youling, spokesman for bird
flu control with the Ministry of Agriculture.
The four areas are: Jiedong County in south China's Guangdong
Province, Wugang in central China's Hunan
Province, the Yushan District of Ma'anshan in east China's Anhui
Province; and an area in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region,
according to Xinhua News Agency.
Dingdang Town, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the site of
China's first confirmed bird flu case, as well as Shanghai's Nanhui
District and Yongkang, in east China's Zhejiang Province, were
previously freed from quarantine.
According to Xinhua, the Ministry of Agriculture did not receive
any new reports of suspected or confirmed bird flu cases Wednesday.
The last new case was reported on February 24.
The Beijing municipal animal epidemic prevention center has
issued a directive requiring the strict disposal of animal waste
and thorough disinfection of reusable feedstuff bags to prevent and
contain the spread of the bird flu virus.
The directive requires large poultry farms to have special
facilities to store and treat poultry feces. These areas must be
disinfected regularly.
In another development, a suspected bird flu case emerged in
Japan yesterday. If confirmed, it will be the third outbreak of the
disease in the country this year, according to Xinhua.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday Mexico and the European Union joined
China, Japan, South Korea and others in banning US poultry due to a
bird flu outbreak in the state of Texas, according to Reuters.
?(China Daily February 26, 2004)