“There is a resumption of momentum”: the second vaccination campaign against avian flu has started for duck breeders

“This vaccine had to arrive for a while. It’s here, we’re putting it in place, now we have to continue.” David Lorenzon did not hide his relief when it was time to vaccinate his ducks for the second year in a row. It must be said that this breeder and grain producer has been hit hard by avian flu in recent years. Three times (in 2018, 2020 and 2023), he saw his livestock destroyed.

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This time, no risk: its 12,000 ducklings are indeed immunized against the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus. They received a first injection this Thursday, October 10 in the buildings of the operation based in Sainte-Dode, under the eyes of the prefect of Gers Laurent Carrié, accompanied by the Departmental Directorate of Employment, Labor, Solidarity and protection of populations (DDETSPP). “In practice, there is not much that changes: we always vaccinate animals from 10 days of age, and a booster from 18 to 23 days. A second vaccination can be done with a booster 3 or 4 weeks later”, indicated Alice Machet, veterinarian at Socsa breeding.

“Economic shocks” and “human tragedies”

Of course, the arrival of the vaccine has not solved everything for professionals in the poultry industry, still inconvenienced by confinement. David Lorenzon did not fail to point out its harmful consequences on animals. “We have to try with the vaccine that one day we will still be able to leave them outside, even with measures. It is not viable, the ducks inside get dirty, we have to mulch. We are used to it, we are there passed but we should try to make it lighter,” he commented.

For David Lorenzon, it is still difficult to be choosy after the dark years experienced by his sector, in the Gers and throughout France. As a reminder, between 2021 and 2023, no less than 32 million ducks were slaughtered in the territory (22 million during the 2021-2022 season, 10 million the following season). “Beyond the figures, the most important thing is the economic shocks and the human tragedies represented by the episodes of avian flu,” underlined the prefect of Gers.

“We have consolidated the sector well”

One year after the launch of vaccination against avian influenza by the former Minister of Agriculture Marc Fesneau, in Landes and Gers, the observation is encouraging to say the least: the department has not experienced any cases of avian flu, the last outbreak detected dating back to May 2023. In total, no less than 3 million ducks were vaccinated in the department at the end of this first campaign (64 million throughout the country), with financial support from the State to the tune of 1.5 million euros.

If the disease still occurs sporadically, as the four outbreaks recently detected in Brittany remind us, optimism therefore remains in order. “The first campaign went well, we have consolidated the sector which is regaining confidence. We are launching a second campaign with a separate distribution of roles: the State takes charge of the vaccine*, it remains up to the breeder to take charge of the act of vaccination and passive surveillance”, specified Laurent Carrié, confident for the future of the sector. “I understood that the profession wanted to increase the production of ducks: we were at 21 million ducks produced last year and we should be around 26 million this year. There is a resumption of the dynamic”, concluded -he.