China's Ministry of Agriculture announced Sunday to lift the quarantine on two areas hit by the H5N1 strain of bird flu, saying the areas have been freed of the epidemic.

The areas are Shilin County of southwest China's Yunnan Province, and Haifeng County, in south China's Guangdong Province.

No new bird flu cases had been suspected or confirmed in these areas for 21 successive days since the last birds in the affected areas were culled, according to the ministry.

Experts in animal epidemics and officials concluded after inspections that the disease had been eradicated in the two places and the areas met the requirements for the lifting of isolation orders as stipulated in the Emergency Countermeasures Against Avian Influenza and the Technical Standards Regarding the Fight Against Avian Influenza.

The ministry urged local governments and animal epidemic prevention and control organizations to remain vigilant and continue supervision to prevent new cases.

The ministry said it had received no reports of new suspected or confirmed bird flu cases Sunday. There has been no reports of suspected bird flu cases anywhere on the Chinese mainland for 13 days in a row since Feb. 17 when the mainland lifted the quarantine on its first bird flu-affected area in southwest autonomous region of Guangxi.

(Xinhua News Agency February 29, 2004)