France is worried about cases among its European neighbors

On December 5, the French authorities raised the risk level of avian flu to its maximum. However, few poultry farms are currently affected by the virus in France.

Since last spring, France has been at “negligible risk”, its lowest alert level. But on November 28, a turkey farm was affected in Morbihan. The alert level was then raised a notch and from now on, there have been several suspicions and cases on farms all over France.

For the moment there is nothing catastrophic like last year and breeding and production have also recovered. The decision to raise the alert to the maximum level is partly preventive since France’s neighbors are experiencing strong avian flu infection dynamics, particularly the countries of northern and central Europe.

An extremely contagious virus

In its latest monitoring bulletin, the French animal health epidemiological surveillance platform notes contaminations on farms in Hungary, Bulgaria, but also in Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. There is also contamination in wild birds such as common cranes, which are precisely migratory birds. The latter precisely explain this significant level of risk, because northern countries, such as Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium are located upstream of our migration corridor.

This means that contaminated migratory birds from northern Europe are passing through France, en route to Spain and northern Africa. This fall has been very hot and the migration season has been delayed. The last ducks may still cross into France in the coming days.

Confine so as not to slaughter

Although it is rare for humans to be infected, for birds, simple contact with poultry is enough to contaminate the entire flock. The virus can even be transmitted without direct contact, because the droppings left by migratory birds contain the virus.

Therefore, poultry that were raised outdoors must now be confined. The aim is to avoid cases and massive slaughters like in previous years. But this year, breeders have a new weapon since since October, 64 million ducks have been vaccinated to limit the transmission of the virus.