Following the discovery of new cases, poultry farms were forced to confine their birds indoors in order to stop the extremely contagious virus from spreading, prompting France to upgrade the danger level of avian flu from “moderate” to “high” on Tuesday.
The agriculture ministry’s decision was made public in the Official Journal on Tuesday.
Avian flu, also referred to as avian influenza, has caused the global eradication of hundreds of millions of birds in recent years.
Typically occurring in the autumn and winter, it has been spreading during the past few weeks throughout numerous European nations, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Last week, France reported that it had discovered the season’s first avian flu infection on a farm in the northwest region of Brittany.
Last Monday, Yann Nedelec, director of the French poultry industry group Anvol, said that another epidemic had been found among turkeys in the Somme department in northern France.
“We are entering the riskiest period going from November to February/March with temperatures going down and active migration flows,” Nedelec stated.
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Because of the “high” danger level, producers should keep all of their chicken inside and provide extra protection to prevent the disease from spreading.
Despite the fact that avian flu is safe to eat, governments and the poultry industry are concerned about its spread since it can ruin flocks, lead to trade restrictions, and pose a danger of human transmission.
Early in October, France began a vaccination effort against the disease, first focused mostly on ducks because they are easy carriers of the virus and don’t exhibit symptoms.
The industry is keeping a close eye on the efficacy of France’s bird vaccination policy in light of the current avian flu outbreak.
According to Marie-Pierre Pe, director of France’s duck and foie gras business association CIFOG, the country wants to vaccinate over 60 million ducks, but as of the end of last month, only 70% had received their first vaccination and 40% had received all of their shots.
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