Avian flu: surge in the number of outbreaks in southwestern France
According to the latest figures from the ministry communicated to AFP, 127 outbreaks have been confirmed in French farms, including 119 in the Landes, more than double the number recorded a week ago.
REUTERS - Regis Duvignau
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Avian influenza continues to spread rapidly in duck farms in France, particularly in the southwest of the country known for its production of foie gras.
Hundreds of thousands of ducks are slaughtered to contain the epidemic which is also affecting other countries.
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Since the outbreak of the epidemic in December, around 400,000 ducks have been slaughtered in the Landes department located in southwestern France.
Faced with the increase in the number of contaminated farms, the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, warns that hundreds of thousands of palmipeds will still be eliminated.
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To read also: Avian flu: ducks slaughtered by hundreds of thousands in France
The South-West currently has 5 million poultry being farmed for their foie gras.
This is another hard blow for the industry, which has already been hit during the past five years.
This time, breeders must also face the consequences of confinement linked to Covid-19 which deprives them of the outlet for catering.
Bird flu is also rife elsewhere in Europe.
This is the case in Belgium where several farms are affected by the highly pathogenic virus.
The epidemic is also continuing to spread in Africa.
Senegal, so far spared, has just announced the slaughter at the beginning of the year of more than 40,000 poultry following the appearance at the end of 2020 of an outbreak on a private farm in the west of the country.
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Avian flu: ducks slaughtered by the hundreds of thousands in France