This Monday, a fourth outbreak of bird flu broke out in Brittany in just two weeks. After Ambon (Morbihan), Essé and Guipry-Messac (Ille-et-Vilaine), in Peillac (Morbihan), 27,000 ducks were slaughtered. The contamination concerned only one building, in which ducklings had arrived the previous week, but all the animals were gassed. For each focus of contamination, the same procedure applies: a protection zone within a radius of three kilometers, and a surveillance zone within ten kilometers around the focus of contamination.
What is the concrete protocol in place?
Around Essé, where the first outbreak in Ille-et-Vilaine was identified on March 19, between 60,000 and 80,000 poultry are slaughtered this week, which corresponds to farms located in the protection zone. If they are not affected by preventive culling, breeders in the surveillance zone are forced to follow a protocol.
– Maxim Glorious
With the “quails of Chanteloup”, trucks arriving at the farm must disinfect their wheels. “We soak our feet in a footbath and we put on specific clothing, for single use when we are a visitor. Otherwise, our blouses are changed every day”, explains co-owner Christophe Primault. The protocol was established by the prefecture, but “They have a lot of work and it’s complicated to reach them, like our veterinarian. On top of that, there’s fatigue because it’s been going on for two years with the Covid.”
The breeder does not have the right to take out his quails to slaughter them in the slaughterhouse installed on the farm. One kilometer from the farm, he has another warehouse where 20,000 quails are ready for slaughter. But transport is prohibited. “To fight avian flu, you need an empty chicken coop. So, yes, there is transport, but we presented the protocol to secure this one-kilometre trip, only five minutes!”
Forbidden to expand his breeding, he must euthanize 40,000 quails after they hatch
Christophe Primault points a “financial mess” : these poultry cannot be sold and, if they are one day contaminated, he will have to be compensated. In the meantime, the quails grow and consume increasingly expensive food since the start of the war in Ukraine. “The nights are very, very short”, slips the Brazilian breeder, tears in his voice.
– Maxim Glorious
Before the arrival of avian flu in Brittany, Christophe Primault hatched 40,000 quail. All were euthanized because he is not allowed to expand his breeding at the moment. “The big difficulty is that compensation is provided for those in the protection zone within three kilometers, but nothing is provided for in the security zone, like us, within ten kilometers. In addition to the loss of quails, it is also our turnover which, tomorrow, will no longer be achieved and staff will be unemployed.” Avian flu does not present no risk for humans.