(AFP / WRONG)
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The 2021-2022 avian flu epizootic is on an unprecedented scale, 16 million poultry have been slaughtered since November.
The risk of spreading the avian influenza virus in France is
now “moderate” across the country,
according to a decree published this Tuesday, May 10 in the Official Journal.
Only 19 departments of the Grand Ouest
remain at “high risk”.
These are the most affected by the avian flu epizootic, like Vendée which, on May 6, had 533 outbreaks, Landes (231 outbreaks), or Maine-et-Loire (177).
Lowering the risk for the rest of France allows
the lifting of restrictions
of sheltering poultry confined since November 5, when the country went into “high risk”. “This will help to return a little more to normal, with a repositioning of chicks and ducklings,” said the Ministry of Agriculture Monday during a press conference on avian flu.
Regarding the Great West, “we can hope
reinstatement on June 1st”,
had added the ministry, stressing that France was now “in a decreasing zone of the epizootic”.
An unprecedented scale
The 2021-2022 avian flu epizootic is on an unprecedented scale. 16 million poultry have been slaughtered since November,
including 11 million in the Great West.
The epizootic affected the Pays de Loire region in particular, which plays a crucial role:
it produces 72% of the ducklings in the sector
and hosts many breeding farms, necessary for the resumption of production.
This is the second consecutive year that the French poultry sectors have seen their farms decimated, last year 3.5 million poultry were killed.
Two vaccine candidates
The Ministry of Agriculture has announced the launch of the experiment of
two vaccine candidates
from the Ceva Santé Animale and Boehringer Ingelheim laboratories on Tuesday, with an envelope of approximately 2.3 million euros. The results of these tests, which will concern two batches of waterfowl, are expected in 2023.
Other experiments are
planned in Europe:
“in Bulgaria on geese and in the Netherlands on chickens,” the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) told AFP at the end of April.
The challenge is to deploy this additional tool on “the whole territory” underlines the ministry, but vaccinating is also
see opportunities close.
Many countries (Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Great Britain, United States, etc.) refuse to supply themselves with poultry in countries practicing vaccination against avian flu, fearing that a vaccinated animal will import the virus. on their territory.
But “if we have to go towards vaccination,
export must be possible”,
said the ministry without developing further on negotiations with countries outside Europe.
“The vaccination strategy will be implemented for European countries, for third countries, which represent significant commercial issues, it will be necessary that, collectively,
we defend the interest of this vaccination
and the absence of risk for them”, explained the ministry.
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