The local government yesterday lifted the three-week quarantine on the bird flu-infected village of Sixian in Guangzhou's Panyu district after authorities contained the outbreak.

Accordingly, all the poultry markets and wet markets within a 13 km radius of the village, which had been closed down, resumed business.

"Animal epidemic prevention experts have finished the final testing of the infected region and the outcome indicates that the region is safe now," Fang Zhenggang, director of Guangzhou Animal Epidemic Prevention Supervision Institute, said.

"It is the proper time the ban was lifted."

Animals have been tested for flu antibodies.

The longest latent period for the subtype H5N1 virus in animals is 21 days.

Fang said that if no new cases occurred, the epidemic was deemed well under control.

The local government imposed the shutdown on the village of Sixian, where bird flu broke out among ducks, and suspended trade at all poultry markets within a radius of 13 km on September 18, the second day after the epidemic had been confirmed as a subtype H5N1 bird flu by the Ministry of Agriculture and the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory.

The bird flu broke out on September 5, killing 9,830 ducks in just a couple of days in Sixian village.

The local government of Guangzhou's Panyu district then ordered the extermination of more than 150,000 fowls including ducks, chickens and doves in nine villages within a radius of 3 km of Sixian.

The city of Guangzhou also suspended partially exports of live poultry and products such as eggs to the neighboring special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

Yang Wanmin, a Sixian villager, said that he was "very happy" that the quarantine had been lifted.

"We dared not visit relatives and friends; nor relatives or friends were allowed to visit us during the past three weeks," Yang said. "Life was extremely inconvenient for us.

"I will buy some live chickens tomorrow at latest for a good meal.

"My kids have been craving for it in the last three weeks."

(China Daily October 10, 2007)