Authorities in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are expected to lift a blockade on the village of Tengjiaying in the regional capital on Saturday, more than 20 days after it was sealed off because of a bird flu outbreak.

Workers in white or blue protective overalls sprayed the passing vehicles with disinfectant on Friday at entrances to the village, the site of China's first bird flu outbreak this year.

"We haven't seen another outbreak or suspected case for about 20 days," said Xu Yanhui, the director of the region's veterinary authorities, on Thursday.

"According to official procedures, we are expected to lift the blockade in two or three days," he added.

After the outbreak was reported at villager Qin Zhijun's poultry farm on October 14, authorities culled more than 93,500 birds and vaccinated tens of thousands more within a 3-kilometre radius.

Thirty-nine of the 57 entrances to the village were blocked with dirt piles, with police officers and health workers performing round-the-day check-ups at all major entrances.

On Thursday, vehicles entering and leaving the village were stopped at checkpoints, where the wheels and undersides were sprayed with disinfectant.

Several registration books sat on a table beside the checkpoint, filled with information on drivers and their cargo. Records show the registration began on the evening of October 14.

A tent stood behind each checkpoint, as workers said they spent the night there.

"We paid special attention to vehicles leaving the village, in case they spread the virus to other places," a worker told China Daily.

Life in the village for the 1,000 residents remained calm. Cows and sheep roamed the dusty streets on Thursday, but no poultry could be spotted.

Empty disinfectant barrels and chicken cages covered with white powdered disinfectant lay in Qin's courtyard, with workers in blue protective suits still spraying disinfectant around his house.

Qin, the owner of the only large-scale poultry farm in the village, recalled that on the day of the outbreak, he woke in the morning to find a few dead birds, with many more dropping dead while they ate.

He added that authorities, who arrived 30 minutes after he reported the strange deaths, quarantined him and his wife at the farm while they tested the chickens. He said that when the results came back positive for bird flu, they began destroying other chickens.

Qin said up to 7,000 birds had died or been destroyed following the outbreak, but he has yet to receive any compensation.

Experts still could not determine the source of the outbreak, but suspected migratory birds may have carried the virus.

According to Qin, some wild birds flocked at his pond several days before the outbreak. The pond has now been filled in with soil.

"All three migratory bird routes in China pass through Inner Mongolia," Xu said, posing a substantial threat to the region's animal husbandry.

(China Daily November 5, 2005)