The bird flu outbreak site in central China's Hunan province is ready to be lifted from quarantine, veterinary and disease control experts said Sunday.

A bird flu outbreak was reported in Wantang Village, Shebu Town,Xiangtan County on Oct. 18. Chickens and ducks within three kilometers were culled and live poultry market was shut down the following day. About 253,000 head of poultry were vaccinated.

The outbreak was confirmed by the national avian influenza reference laboratory on Oct. 25.

A panel of seven experts from veterinary and disease control departments in the province examined the situation in Shebu Town on Saturday and made the conclusion, suggesting that the quarantine be lifted.

The experts panel, headed by the provincial senior veterinarian Ding Guohua and Tan Zhixiang, said in a report that it has been more than 14 days since the poultry were vaccinated, the period oftime needed for a vaccine to take effect, and test results of 120 blood samples taken from the poultry in the area have met the requirement for immunization.

The report also said that there have been no new bird flue cases for a consecutive period of 21 days, the longest incubation period for the H5N1 avian flu virus, which satisfied the criteria set by the Ministry of Agriculture to lift quarantine.

Shebu Town is expected to be removed from the list of bird flu sites soon, local authorities said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 14, 2005)