The Shenzhen municipal health bureau removed the emergency alert against human bird flu Friday.

The southern city was put on high alert following the detection of a human case of bird flu June 14.

The Donghu Hospital in the city received a patient suffering from pneumonia June 11, which was confirmed four days later to be bird flu.

As of Friday, no new suspected human bird flu cases or pneumonia with unidentified causes had been detected in Shenzhen.

All the 98 people who had close contact with the patient passed medical inspections June 20.

The patient still remains in hospital. A hospital source said the patient is in a stable condition and has a clear mind. The patient’s illness is no longer contagious.

Meanwhile, the export of live poultry from the mainland to Hong Kong resumed Thursday three weeks after it was suspended following the human bird flu case in Shenzhen, according to the Shenzhen Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

The first batch of live poultry exported to Hong Kong after the resumption comprised 2,500 chickens from a Shenzhen farm. But the number of live chickens from the mainland will be capped at 20,000 a day after the resumption.

The Hong Kong authorities said the suspension was lifted after a full investigation was conducted in Shenzhen farms early last week, and there have been no further human cases or outbreaks among birds.

(Shenzhen Daily July 10, 2006)