Faced with avian flu, a surveillance perimeter in the coastal zone throughout Brittany

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To prevent the introduction of the virusavian influenza highly pathogenic (IAHP) by local wild avifauna in the poultry farms and backyardsand surveillance perimeter is created by the department prefects on a continuous coastal zone 20 kilometers wide, from the bay of Mont Saint-Michel to Vendée.

A worrying situation

Since June 2024, along the Atlantic-Channel coast, wild marine avifauna birds (gulls and gannets) have been found dead. Some were carrying the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI).

Currently, these contaminations observed in wildlife are not the result of the movements of migratory birds. These HPAI cases confirmed in local wildlife show that the avian influenza virus now circulates all year round with a significant risk of contaminating poultry farms and farmyards.

Furthermore, since August 2024, three outbreaks of avian influenza on farms have been confirmed in Brittany: a multi-species farm in Ille-et-Vilaine on August 12, 2024; a turkey farm in Morbihan on August 20, 2024; another multi-species breeding in Finistère on September 2, 2024.

The contamination of these three outbreaks most likely originated from direct or indirect contact with sedentary local wildlife.

Additional prevention measures necessary in the Atlantic Channel HPAI zone.

Area 20 km

Given this viral circulation, state services have decided to put in place additional measures to prevent the introduction of the virus by wildlife into all poultry farms, including private backyards. These specific prevention measures must apply over a continuous coastal zone 20 kilometers wide, from the bay of Mont-Saint-Michel to Vendée.

In this zone, the biosecurity measures imposed on poultry keepers correspond to those planned when the level of risk in terms of avian influenza is classified as “high”, namely: sheltering poultry; ban on organizing gatherings of poultry and allowing birds originating from this area to participate in gatherings organized in the rest of the territory; limited authorizations for transport and introduction into the natural environment of game birds, and the use of decoys.

The list of municipalities located in the Atlantic-Channel IAHP zone and the additional measures to be applied are detailed in the prefectural decrees of each department.

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