With the removal of the yellow cordon around Juchao District on Wednesday morning, Chaohu City of east China's Anhui Province ended its 21-day battle against the highly pathogenic avian influenza.

Starting from 8:30 AM, vehicles and people were found going in and out of the isolated area freely.

Director Li Jiafa of the Anti-avian-flu Headquarters of Juchao District said that no new cases had been suspected or confirmed for 21 successive days since bird flu was confirmed and the last batch of birds in the affected area were culled as stipulated.

Experts in animal epidemics and officials concluded after inspections that the disease had been eradicated in the district and the area met the requirements for the lifting of isolation orders as stipulated in the Emergency Counter measures Against Avian Influenza of China and the Technical Standards Regarding the Fight Against Avian Influenza.

Li said that to play it safe, monitoring will continue and no poultry breeding would be allowed in the area immediately. Meanwhile, efforts are being made by local governments to reduce the losses of farmers.

After the national avian flu reference laboratory confirmed on July 6 that the chicken's death in the district was caused by H5N1, a highly pathogenic bird flu virus, the provincial government started an emergency plan to set up three quarantine stations at major entrances to the affected spot. All poultry within a radius of three km from the infected spot were culled, disinfected and buried deeply.

On July 8, all poultry within a radius of three to eight km were given compulsory immunization. Some 168 people suspected of being infected were released from medical observation on July 19.

(Xinhua News Agency July 28, 2004)