While 700,000 animals have been slaughtered since the summer, Marc Fesneau is considering the possibility of requesting “adjustments” for some farms. The Minister hopes to have a vaccine developed by the end of winter.
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Outdoor poultry must once again be confined everywhere in France to try to stem avian flu. This is “the only solution to date to try to preserve as many farms as possible”, judge the Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, guest Monday, November 14, on France Bleu Périgord. “It is the decision, taken with the health authorities, which seems to us the most appropriate at the moment we are going through”, he continues, a few weeks before the end of the year celebrations.
The level of risk was raised from “moderate” to “high” throughout the metropolitan territory on Thursday November 10. More than 770,000 animals have been slaughtered since the summer and the disease is causing concern in the agricultural world.
Marc Fesneau is, however, considering the possibility of requesting “adjustments” for certain outdoor farms, “small or modest in size”. “We asked ANSES [l’Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l’alimentation, de l’environnement et du travail] to see to what extent we could, in the weeks or months to come, release the pressure on these farms”, explains the Minister of Agriculture. It will depend “scientific data and the risks of contagiousness to other farms”, he specifies, the idea being “to improve things to reassure breeders a little”.
“The objective is to help breeders get over the course and ensure that next year we can approach the period more calmly”, summarizes Marc Fesneau who hope that a vaccine to protect duck farms from bird flu will be available by then. This vaccine is being tested “since the month of June”, he specifies, and the first results “tangible” are expected in “December or January”. The Minister of Agriculture “nurtures hope” having “a vaccine strategy for next season”, with a vaccine “qualified at the end of winter”.