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)