The four areas are: Jiedong County in south China's Guangdong Province, Wugang in central China's Hunan Province, the Yushan District of Ma'anshan in east China's Anhui Province; and an area in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Dingdang Town, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the site of China's first confirmed bird flu case, as well as Shanghai's Nanhui District and Yongkang, in east China's Zhejiang Province, were previously freed from quarantine.

According to Xinhua, the Ministry of Agriculture did not receive any new reports of suspected or confirmed bird flu cases Wednesday. The last new case was reported on February 24.

The Beijing municipal animal epidemic prevention center has issued a directive requiring the strict disposal of animal waste and thorough disinfection of reusable feedstuff bags to prevent and contain the spread of the bird flu virus.

The directive requires large poultry farms to have special facilities to store and treat poultry feces. These areas must be disinfected regularly.

In another development, a suspected bird flu case emerged in Japan yesterday. If confirmed, it will be the third outbreak of the disease in the country this year, according to Xinhua.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday Mexico and the European Union joined China, Japan, South Korea and others in banning US poultry due to a bird flu outbreak in the state of Texas, according to Reuters.

(China Daily February 26, 2004)