Ministry of Agriculture has announced quarantine has been lifted in all areas affected by the avian flu on the Chinese mainland as an avian flu-affected area in southwest China was declared safe by local government earlier Friday.

Citing a report from the Guizhou provincial government, the ministry said quarantine was lifted Friday morning in a bird flu-hit area in southwestern Guizhou Province following all live bird were culled and no new case was reported in the epidemic area during the past 21 days.

Prior to the move, quarantine in 32 of the 33 areas hit by the disease on the mainland had been lifted by local governments after their epidemic situation was brought under control.

A ministry official said 33 counties or districts in 26 prefectures or cities in 14 provincial areas had been hit by the disease since last year. But the ministry urged precaution against any possible outbreak of new cases in the coming months.

With the approval by the Ministry of Agriculture, Wudang district in the provincial capital Guiyang was lifted of a three-week quarantine at 8:00 AM.

The district was put under quarantine following an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak among quails on Jan. 6. The local live fowl market was closed, all sick and suspected birds culled and local chicken farms strictly sterilized.

No new case has been spotted by Friday and the quarantine work has been checked and accepted by an expert panel of the provincial quarantine authorities.

The provincial government has inspired quarantine authorities to step up inspection and disseminate bird flu prevention and control knowledge among fowl raisers and consumers.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2006)