Avian influenza: a "common source" for the outbreaks discovered in France identified (Illustration) -

Tristan Reynaud / SIPA

"Hundreds of thousands" of ducks will still be slaughtered after the extension of the slaughterings announced Thursday by the government, Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie predicted on Friday, citing the need "to accelerate in the race against time. Against a "highly pathogenic" avian influenza virus.

Since December, "almost 400,000 ducks have been slaughtered in the Landes department (...) it will still be hundreds of thousands, it is a certainty", declared the minister on France Bleu Gascogne, a few hours before a visit to affected breeders in this department which is the leading producer of fatty palmipeds.

"The objective is to carry out massive depopulation to contain the epidemic"

The minister admitted "not being able to say" how many ducks will remain, out of the approximately 5 million currently being farmed in the department.

"My goal is to keep as much as possible (...) The goal is to mass depopulate to contain the epidemic".

Several hundred thousand ducks slaughtered, it is already "colossal, but unfortunately it is not yet enough", estimated Mr. Denormandie.

"It is clear that we did not go fast enough", he acknowledged justifying the measures announced Thursday, such as the extension of preventive slaughter, creating "a crawl space around the homes that will pass. from 3 km to 5 km, it is extremely drastic ”, as well as the“ buffer zones ”where any entry or exit of poultry is prohibited.

"To go faster, we need to increase slaughtering capacities"

“To go faster, we need to increase slaughtering capacities and this is what we have put in place today with in particular slaughterhouse requisitions, the constitution of ad hoc technical platforms that we are creating for 'occasion, with great slaughtering capacities,' he continued.

But, warned the Minister, "slaughtering a duck farm, it does not happen in a snap, it is a health protocol, it is to ensure that in the transfer of ducks there is no not the possible transfer of the virus, it is a protocol when we euthanize the poultry ”.

In terms of compensation for breeders, Julien Denormandie assured that "from next week the first installments will already be paid".

It will be compensation “relating to the market value of the ducks, not above-ground compensation with coefficients.

Its very important".

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  • Aquitaine

  • Ducks

  • Animals

  • epidemic

  • Avian Flu

  • Bordeaux

  • Economy