The decision fell on Thursday, November 10. Outdoor poultry must again be confined everywhere in France to try to stem the bird flu which has led to the slaughter of more than 770,000 animals since the summer. The level of risk associated with avian influenza has been raised from “moderate” at “raised” in France and Corsica by a decree published Thursday in the Official Journal. Franceinfo returns to this controversial decision.
1What is the health situation?
The virus started to hit French farms again in the summer, exceptionally early after a catastrophic 2021-2022 season. “By mid-October 2022, approximately 21.8 million animals (palmipeds and poultry) had been slaughtered in France as part of crisis management (August 2021-May 2022)”details the Ministry of Agriculture on its website. “Breeders are traumatized, some stop producing so as not to relive spring” last, underlines the president of the chamber of agriculture Pays de la Loire-Vendée, Joel Limouzin.
“As of November 11, 52 outbreaks in breeding have been confirmed since August 1”says the ministry. In the space of three months, more than 770,000 ducks, chickens or laying hens have already been slaughtered, AFP learned from the ministry.
2How is the government justified?
“In a context marked by an unprecedented persistence of the virus in the environment and a strong migratory activity of wild birds, it is essential to strengthen preventive measures to avoid contamination of poultry farms”, justified the Ministry of Agriculture in a press release on November 10. This imposes the “sheltering all poultry”, recalls the ministry. The latter warns: recalcitrant breeders will not be able to claim full compensation from the State in the event of stamping-out.
Even before the resumption of the epizootic during the summer, the bill for avian flu amounted to more than one billion euros for the French State to compensate the losses of professionals. The major poultry production areas (Brittany, Pays de la Loire, as well as the Deux-Sèvres department) had already had to lock up poultry since mid-October.
The government sees this decision as a transitional measure pending a possible vaccine. “The objective for us is to help breeders to pass the and to ensure that next year, with the vaccine, we have something that allows us to approach the period more calmly“ with the establishment of a vaccine to protect duck farms from avian flu, the Minister of Agriculture said on France Bleu Périgord on Monday. According to Marc Fesneau, the vaccine is being tested “since june” and the first results “tangible” are expected in “December or January”. The government “nurtures hope” having “a vaccine strategy for next season”.
3Why is this decision contested?
In 2022, poultry only tasted the great outdoors for a few months. “Confining, we have seen that it does not work, it does not protect against the virus”deplores Lionel Candelon, breeder in the Gers and president of the Angry Ducks association, to AFP.
judging that the “industrial animal sectors” are responsible for the spread of the virus, 22 organizations for the defense of small farmers (Confédération paysanne, Movement for the defense of family farmers), the environment (France nature environment, Greenpeace) and livestock (CIWF, Welfarm-Global Farm Animal Protection) on Thursday called on the government to “radically change policy in the face of epizootics”. They call for the establishment of a “protective principle” of free-range breeding, of which they fear the“collapse”.
At the same time, the Confédération paysanne and the collective Sauve qui poule Poitou mobilized against the preventive slaughter of 3,000 hens and guinea fowl in an organic farm in Largeasse (Deux-Sèvres), after the detection of cases of avian flu. in a nearby duck farm. In protest, and without preventing them from acting, around fifty people welcomed the convoy of veterinary services and service providers responsible for applying the prefectural decision.
In his interview with France Bleu Périgord, Marc Fesneau seemed to let go of ballast, considering the possibility of requesting“relax the pressure a bit” for certain outdoor farms, “small or modest in size”. It will depend “scientific data” and “risk of contagiousness to other farms”he specifies, the idea being “to improve things to reassure breeders a little”.
4What are the potential consequences for consumers?
The situation “gives chills”, declared, Wednesday, in front of the press the president of the interprofession of the egg. Yves-Marie Beaudet thus warns of the threats to national egg production. The slaughter of poultry does indeed mechanically cause production to fall and prices to rise. According to the franceinfo calculator, the price of the box of six eggs has already climbed 13% since September 2021.
In addition, repeated confinements lead to the suspension of mentions of free-range breeding in the specifications of reputable productions, such as duck foie gras from the South-West or eggs from Loué.