The State Forestry Administration said on Monday that it had
received no reports of avian influenza among migratory birds since
June of this year.
The report was based on observations from 118 monitoring
stations for epidemic diseases of ground-dwelling wild animals
across the country, said Zhuo Rongsheng, director of the
administration's Department of Wildlife and Forest Plants
Protection.
The administration's monitoring stations were described as the
mainstay of China's bird flu monitoring system, and more than 400
similar stations have been established by local governments.
"All local forestry authorities have banned people, livestock
and poultry from entering areas where migratory birds gather in a
bid to avoid mutual contagion of possible avian flu among migratory
birds, livestock and poultry," Zhou said.
In October, the H5N1 strain of bird flu was reported amongst
domestic fowl in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region,
Hunan Province in central China, and the eastern province of
Anhui.
The Ministry of Agriculture said that no human infections have
been reported.
Local governments in areas affected have slaughtered poultry and
taken compulsory quarantine measures within five kilometers, the
ministry said.
(Xinhua News Agency November 1, 2005)