The Ministry of Agriculture said Monday that the bird flu outbreak had ended in Shanghai's Nanhui District and Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province. Quarantine was lifted on both areas.
 
Jia Youling, an avian influenza control spokesman for the ministry, said that no new bird flu cases had been reported or confirmed for 21 days after the required culling of poultry in the affected areas.

The outbreak of the H5N1 bird flu strain was reported on January 29 in Shanghai and on January 31 in Zhejiang.

Experts who were dispatched to the areas to assess the outcome of control efforts concluded that the disease had been eradicated and the areas met the requirements for removal from quarantine as set out in the Emergency Countermeasures Against Avian Influenza of China and the Technical Standards Regarding the Fight Against Avian Influenza.

The Ministry of Agriculture urged local organizations to continue supervising animal quarantine to prevent the occurrence of new cases.

The ministry received no reports of new suspected or confirmed avian influenza cases in China Monday, said spokesman Jia.

(Xinhua News Agency February 24, 2004)