The executive tried Tuesday to reassure about avian flu.
The reason for the fears: a domestic cat belonging to a family from Deux-Sèvres was euthanized after being infected with the disease, we learned from the Ministry of Agriculture, confirming information from
Ouest-France
.
According to the National Health Security Agency (Anses), this is the first time that such a case of contamination has been observed in France.
The animal, euthanized at the end of December because of the deterioration of its state of health, lived in a dwelling located near a duck farm also affected and completely slaughtered.
"The detection of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) in mammals is a rare phenomenon" but "already observed", delayed the ministry.
ANSES's warning
Marine mammals (grey seal, European otter) as terrestrial (red fox, lynx or badger) had already been affected.
"The sensitivity of cats, and more broadly of felines, to HPAI viruses has been known since 2004", according to the ministry.
For its part, ANSES preferred to sound the alarm.
“Contamination of pets such as cats could facilitate the passage of the virus to humans”, thus warned the agency which calls for “keeping” these animals “away from infected farms and operations. euthanasia of infected duck households.
»
Avian flu is progressing in France at the heart of poultry farms, with 286 outbreaks recorded by the authorities since August 1, which marks the start of the 2022-2023 epizootic.
Some 4.6 million poultry have also been slaughtered since the same date, mainly between December and January.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Agriculture recalled that the transmission to humans “of HPAI viruses currently in Europe”, remained “low” for the general population according to the European evaluation agency (EFSA).
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