In France, an outbreak of “highly pathogenic” avian flu was detected on Friday December 27 in a poultry farm in Eure. Faced with the risks of spreading the disease, “immediate eradication measures” of poultry were taken, according to a prefectural decree published on Saturday. The discovery of this outbreak of avian influenza comes just 10 days after the lowering of the risk level on the national territory.
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While France was placed at high risk since Augustthe French Ministry of Agriculture announced on December 17, lowering the level of risk linked to avian flu in mainland France. A breath of fresh air for the poultry farming sector which was finally seeing more favorable prospects. But therefore very short-lived.
The prefectural decree published on Saturday December 28 decreed the immediate eradication of poultry from this Eure farm, due to the “highly pathogenic” nature of the outbreak. It also placed 8 nearby municipalities in a “protection zone” and 46 others in a “surveillance zone”.
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The discovery of this new home reminds us that the H5N1 virus, responsible for avian flustill circulates among wild birds, particularly in migration corridors. The epizootic is raging on all continents and causing heavy losses. In three years, more than 300 million poultry have died or had to be culled due to the virus.
In France, where the disease has been present continuously since 2020, euthanized birds are also numbered in the millions and economic losses in the billions. To break this spiral, the government has made it compulsory since fall 2023 vaccination on farms comprising more than 250 ducks.
Some scientists are concerned about the survival of wild species and point out that certain populations of seabirds have been decimated by avian flu.