Most of the confirmed cases are in the north-west of France, and in particular in the Pays de la Loire regions of Brittany and Normandy.
Article written by
Posted
Reading time : 1 min.
The number is impressive. More than 300,000 poultry have been slaughtered since August 1 in French farms to stem an exceptionally early resumption of avian flu, AFP learned on Wednesday October 12 from the Ministry of Agriculture. In total, according to the ministry, 332,753 animals have been euthanized in the twenty French farms contaminated since August 1.
The virus, which usually disappears in summer due to rising temperatures, continued to circulate in wildlife this year, after a terrible 2021-2022 season. Cases on farms were identified from the end of July on the Channel coast. The official counting of bird flu outbreaks for the 2022-2023 season started on August 1.
Affected areas
Since that date, most confirmed cases have been in the North West, such as Pays de la Loire, Brittany and Normandy. The virus has hit farms with turkeys, laying hens and waterfowl, and particularly affected breeding ducks, which are strategic for the renewal of farms. A case was also spotted in the South-West, in the duck farm of an individual in Gironde.
On a European scale, France is the second country “declaring the most poultry outbreaks since the start of the season” 2022-2023, after Germany, according to the weekly bulletin of the French platform for epidemiological surveillance in animal health (ESA).