The bird flu epidemic in China is expected to turn from high
incidence to gradual control with the upcoming endings of isolation
on some affected areas, an official with the Ministry of
Agriculture said Sunday.
The isolation imposed on Dingdang Town, Long'an County of
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which was the first in China
confirmed with the outbreak of deadly H5N1 strain of avian flu on
Jan. 27, was brought to an end Sunday morning. No new bird flu
cases have been discovered for a succession of 21 days after all
the poultry around Dingdang Town were culled.
Four other areas afflicted with bird flu are being checked for
ending the isolation, the China National Avian Influenza Prevention
Headquarters confirmed on Sunday.
An important criterion to judge the bird flu situation is
comparing the number of regions walking out of isolation with the
number of newly confirmed epidemic regions, said Jia Youling,
spokesman for bird flu control with the Ministry of
Agriculture.
Though bird flu hit 16 Chinese provincial areas, the epidemic
failed to be spread further and no bird flu hybrid to pass among
people, he said.
In the five days ending Feb. 21, no new cases of highly
pathogenic avian flu have been reported in China. And more
epidemic-afflicted regions are expected to end isolation in the
days to come, the Agricultural Ministry official said.
(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2004)