China declared victory yesterday in its fight against bird flu, saying it had "stamped out" all of its known cases. But the government warned against relaxing vigilance, saying the coming warm weather could bring new cases.

　　Local authorities have been ordered to tighten disease prevention measures, said Jia Youling, the spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture's anti-bird flu team.

　　"As of Tuesday, all 49 confirmed cases of bird flu have been stamped out," Jia said at a news conference, adding no new cases had been reported for 29 days.

　　However, the spokesman said local authorities have been warned to be on guard against possible new outbreaks.

　　Outlining the major difficulties China still faces, Jia said there are still water fowl that carry the virus and there will be more chances for the trans-regional spread of the disease as there will be more long-distance transportation of poultry and substantial replenishment of birds in the poultry production industry.

　　As the weather is warming up in most parts of the north, migratory birds will fly northwards in large numbers, which may result in the spread of the pathogen, he added.

　　In addition, the disease still exists in some countries or regions surrounding China, hence the risk of the disease spreading into the mainland.

　　Finally, the tremendous difficulty encountered in the disease prevention and control has not been overcome at the root since poultry production in China is a large, wide-spreading industry, and many places suffer from very poor conditions for disease control.

　　China raises 13.2 billion poultry a year, only 40 percent of which are bred in large scale.

　　"Therefore, the possibility of (bird flu) coming again is great, and no effort should be spared in its prevention and control," Jia stressed.

　　The flu has ravaged flocks in other parts of Asia and spread to humans in Thailand and Vietnam, killing at least 23 people and prompting the cull of about 100 million chickens across the region. No case of human transmission has been reported in China.

　　"The situation is still grave for disease prevention and control," he said. "We may suffer a relapse of bird flu unless preventive measures are intensified."

　　Jia said local officials had been ordered to "intensify efforts in prevention and control," though he didn't say what specific measures they were told to take.

　　"Local agencies must keep vigilant and avoid laxity," he said.

　　China slaughtered 9 million chickens and other poultry and quarantined farming areas throughout the country in an effort to stop the spread of the disease.

　　Jia said Chinese experts believe that mass slaughter of birds, combined with mass vaccinations of healthy poultry, had stopped the spread of the disease.

　　The ministry said yesterday that quarantines had been lifted on the last two areas sealed off by health officials.

　　Farmers whose birds were seized and destroyed were paid compensation at least equal to market prices, Jia said. He didn't say how much compensation had been paid.

　　The mainland's first bird flu case was reported on January 27 in a dead duck found in the town of Dingdang in the southern region of Guangxi.

　　(AP/Xinhua)