December 12, 2005

China lifts bird flu quarantine in Shanxi
 

Health authorities in northern China's Shanxi province said they have lifted the bird flu quarantine there. The quarantine lasted for 21 days, which was the longest incubation period for the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Over 8,000 chickens in Shanxi's Xiaoyi city died of bird flu by Nov 10. A national bird flu lab had diagnosed the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain as the cause of it.

All animal disinfection stations at municipal, township and village levels were also removed.

An official said local poultry product markets have also been reopened.

However, the local epidemic prevention authority said poultry raising would still be banned at all henneries within the former quarantined area, until they passed a 6-month sanitation test.