China lifted a bird flu quarantine in the southern province of Guangzhou on Thursday after no new cases were reported for 21 days.

The trade of live poultry within 13 km of the epidemic region was resumed on Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

An outbreak of bird flu occurred in Xinhui, Jiangmen City, on June 10 and killed 3,873 ducks and led to the culling of another 17,127.

The ministry urged the local authorities to boost epidemic monitoring and prevention measures to effectively guard against any further outbreaks of bird flu.

China has reported seven bird flu outbreaks among poultry so far this year. Six other outbreaks included one in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, three in the southwestern Tibet Autonomous Region, one in the southwestern Guizhou Province and another in Guangdong Province.

The Ministry of Health reported this year three human bird flu cases, all in February, in the central Henan Province, southern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Guangdong Province. All three people involved were dead.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2008)