“This order qualifying the level of highly pathogenic avian influenza risk is taken following the identification of infection dynamics in migratory wild avifauna in neighboring countries and aims to strengthen surveillance and prevention measures,” it is specified.
There is in fact a “possibility of spread of the virus by these migratory birds passing through mainland French territory”, indicates the publication.
The epizootic risk to which poultry and other captive birds are exposed in the event of infection of wild birds with a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus is classified into three categories, “negligible”, “moderate” and “high”.
This risk had been lowered to “negligible” at the end of April 2024. Before that, France had remained at a “high” risk level from the beginning of December 2023.
The avian flu epidemic, which is more widespread in America, Europe, Africa and Asia, affected France from 2015 to 2017 and then almost continuously since the end of 2020. The country has euthanized tens of millions of poultry in recent years. recent years. The economic losses amount to billions of euros.
To break this spiral, France has decided to make vaccination compulsory in farms with more than 250 ducks (excluding breeding ducks) at the end of 2023.
France is the only country in Europe to vaccinate farm animals against avian flu, an approach which has closed – at least temporarily – export markets, such as Japan.
In Belgium, no outbreak of avian flu has (yet) been detected this year in poultry farms and among hobby animal owners, according to the federal agency for the safety of the food chain.
