The Mynanmar authorities have lifted restriction on transport and sale of poultry and its products in five townships in Yangon hit by H5N1 bird flu after finding no unusual death of poultry there as of Saturday, said an official statement released on Sunday.

According to its statement, the Livestock Breeding Veterinary Department (LBVD) made the decision after monitoring 205 poultry farms in the five townships of Mayangon, Hlaingtharya, North Okkalapa, Mingaladon and Hmawby up to Saturday with no such unusual poultry death being found.

"As part of further programs, those from LBVD are to make field trips to farms 3 to 7 kilometers away from the affected farms as well as farms of the states and divisions where they will monitor the virus in three months in order that the country can be declared a bird-flu-free nation," the statement said.

The statement urged people and breeders to report on dead birds to ensure bio-security and cooperate with the department to prevent recurrence of bird flu.

Altogether seven poultry farms in the five townships in Yangon were struck by an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu from Feb. 28 to March 30, during which nearly 2,000 fowls died of the virus with 65,812 poultry from the affected farms and those nearby were culled.

Since the outbreak, Myanmar has been cooperating with experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization and USAID in the fight against the disease.

According to the Myanmar authorities, no human cases have so far been detected with bird flu virus in Yangon.

Source: Xinhua