(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-11-15 15:04

Isolation on bird flu epidemic in Tianchang, a city in east China's Anhui Province, was relieved Tuesday, the local government has announced after a 21-day quarantine check.

A bird flu outbreak took place in the city on October 20, killing 550 poultry, and the city has made tremendous efforts in the treatment of the bird flu outbreak, blockade and disinfection of affected areas.

A final check jointly organized by the Anhui Provincial government and Chuzhou city government on Monday confirmed the city has met the standards set by the Ministry of Agriculture and is therefore in a position to end epidemic isolation.

Live poultry markets 10 kilometers in circumference from the affected region have also reopened after a three-week closure.

But the city government said it will continue to strictly monitor the formerly affected areas in Liangying village, where the epidemic broke out on October 20. Thousands of live poultry had been killed ever since and all poultry farms have vaccinated their livestock.

Tianchang, seated on the course of migratory birds' migration route between Siberia in the north and Australia in the south, is a midway rest place for one million migratory birds every year. All monitoring stations in the city are monitoring migratory birds' activities round-the-clock.