Ducklings in a French farm.

Drawing.

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SIPA

  • 600,000 ducks have already been slaughtered, as a preventive measure or because of contamination, while outbreaks of avian flu are increasing in the southwest of France.

  • This new episode, especially its speed and virulence, amazes scientists and in particular Jean-Luc Guérin, Toulouse specialist in avian virology.

  • The researcher does not exclude the long-term vaccine path but for him it is already too late and "we must first extinguish the fire".

Even if it is not transmissible to humans, it is the other epidemic which occupies the front of the health scene.

The new wave of avian influenza is sweeping down at lightning speed on palmiped farms in the South-West.

There are now 198 households in France, including 170 in the Landes and at least six in the Gers according to Julien Denormandie, the Minister of Agriculture.

This Tuesday, the preventive slaughter of geese and ducks within a radius of 5 kilometers around the outbreaks of H5N8 now concerns five departments: Gers, Landes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées and 11 municipalities of Lot-et- Garonne.

So why such a circulation of the virus?

How to contain it?

And is there a vaccine? 

20 Minutes

interviewed Professor Jean-Luc Guérin (ENVT -INRAE), researcher in avian virology at the Toulouse National Veterinary School.

The

scientists are seem surprised by the virus circulation speed ....

There is a whole series of cases of contamination which surprise us by the distance from other foci and by the absence of any obvious link of transmission, in particular by human vectors.

And so, if we look at the dazzling nature of this epizootic in 2021 and look at all the work that has been done since 2017 - by the breeders, by the transport companies, in terms of surveillance - yes, we are amazed by the number of outbreaks and the development of the epizootic.

How to explain this speed of propagation?

We will have to wait to characterize the virus properly to know if its properties have changed.

Overall, we are dealing with the same type of virus as in 2017, an H5N8 virus which belongs to the same genetic group of avian influenza virus.

But we also know that small genetic modifications could change its properties, even if for the moment there is no evidence to confirm this.

The only thing that can be observed is indeed its extreme contagiousness and its very great virulence.

It is very easy to enter farms and, when there is, it spreads very quickly.

A variant?

I wouldn't say that.

We still don't know.

Me and others, we are investigating the outbreaks, I was still there yesterday [Monday] to take samples, observations, collect data and to try to see a little more clearly.

Do the measures put in place by the government, such as a systematic slaughtering perimeter around the outbreaks, seem appropriate to you?

In the current situation, this is the only solution.

There is no other instrument at our disposal in this emergency context.

The main difficulty for now is to have logistical means of depopulation up to the speed of propagation.

It is more a question of human resources.

Breeders are moaning on social networks and calling for vaccination.

Is there a vaccine?

Today, there is no commercially available, industrialized vaccine that works in ducks.

And if there was one available, it would be too late today to implement a vaccination because the epizootic is going too quickly.

Then, influenza vaccination is not trivial.

It requires extensive support in terms of monitoring.

There are international issues with regard to France's health credibility and our ability to control animal diseases.

The vaccine path must be studied but the fire must first be extinguished.

Vaccination, under very strict conditions of use, may be a tool that will allow us to avoid the next crisis

What do we know about the origin of this new wave of H5N8?

It is clear.

We have known for months that in Russia, in Kazakhstan, there were outbreaks of H5N8 and that the migration corridors of birds were contaminated.

The warning system worked perfectly.

Where we have a little less clear ideas, it is on the way to the farms and the inoculation of the virus.

We know that it can be caused by dust or contaminated feathers nearby, but we do not yet have an explanation for the contaminations that occur tens of kilometers away, especially since the biosecurity loopholes are better controlled than in previous episodes.

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