In France, the avian flu is devastating. 900,000 animals have been slaughtered since the beginning of the month. A dramatic situation for breeders whose farms are threatened. But, glimmer of hope, after a phase of tests, two vaccine candidates have proven to be very effective in protecting ducks from the virus, paving the way for a vaccination campaign in the fall.
These two vaccines developed by German and French laboratories make it possible to almost totally interrupt the transmission direct, when the animals are in close contact, and to completely stop indirect transmission, from one farm to another.
An innovation followed closely by breeders since currently, the discovery of a source of infection leads to the preventive slaughter of healthy animals nearby. In 2022, more than 20 million animals were slaughtered in France because of bird flu.
The National Food Safety Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture consider that the results of the experimentation of these two vaccines provide sufficient guarantees to launch a vaccination campaign in the fall.
However, many questions remain unanswered, who will take care of the vaccination of millions of animals or who will pay for the injections? Industry professionals also fear that foreign markets will refuse to buy products from vaccinated animals.