Avian flu: more than 600,000 poultry slaughtered in one month

Europe 1 with AFP 1:38 p.m., December 31, 2021, modified at 1:39 p.m., December 31, 2021

"About 600,000 to 650,000" poultry have been slaughtered in France since the first case of bird flu detected in a farm at the end of November, according to provisional figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, AFP learned on Friday.

The ministry identifies 26 outbreaks of the virus in farms, mainly in the South-West, 15 cases in wildlife and 3 cases in backyard.

The virus first identified on November 26

France, like many European countries, is once again affected this winter by highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly known as avian flu, carried by migrating birds.

Last year, the epizootic caused nearly 500 breeding outbreaks and resulted in the often preventive slaughter of around 3.5 million poultry, mainly ducks.

This year, the virus was identified for the first time on November 26 in the North, in the town of Warhem where 160,000 laying hens were reared in buildings.

It has since affected other farms in the North and reached the South-West, where the majority of cases are now concentrated.

"Since December 16, when a first H5N1 type outbreak was confirmed in the South-West in a farm of ducks ready to force-feed in the town of Manciet, in the Gers, 22 new outbreaks have been identified in the Atlantic Pyrenees, the Gers and the Landes ", reported the ministry in a press release Thursday evening.

Additional restrictions expected

"The affected farms were depopulated each time, then disinfected," he added.

Additional restrictions are expected to limit contagion "in a dense breeding area in the South-West", the extent of which must be specified by prefectural decrees.

Within this perimeter, breeders will not be able to welcome new chicks or ducklings on their farms "until January 7".

"These measures may be extended, in view of the evolution of the health situation," warns the ministry.