Lalitpur, July 17 -- Nepal's Central Zoo has reopened its doors for the public after nearly a month of closure following the bird-flu outbreak.

The only animal and bird enclosure in the Himalayan nation reopened on Friday with environmental samples of wild birds collected from its premises tested negative for avian influenza.

The zoo has been shut down since June 19 following an outbreak of the bird flu virus among vultures, owls, swans and other rare birds, as well as a jungle cat and civets kept at the facility. Avian influenza A (H5N1) was confirmed in samples from the dead birds.

"The zoo had remained closed to the public from June 19 and it has reopened from July 17; it was closed for about 27 days. It was only closed for the visi...