One year after the obligation to vaccinate farmed ducks, as the second vaccination campaign begins this Tuesday, October 1, what conclusions can we draw from the first? Rather positive according to the scientists at the Toulouse Veterinary School, who continue to work on this avian flu virus.
Convinced breeders
In Jean-Jacques Cortade’s free-range duck farm in Roquefort between Auch and Fleurance (Gers), the animals have been vaccinated for a year. “Vaccination was a great plus for us. There were much fewer cases than other years and therefore less slaughter and fewer problems.“, explains the breeder.
France is the first to have made vaccination of ducks compulsory. It has since been scrutinized by many other countries around the world. Professor Jean-Luc Guérin, from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse and specialist in avian flu, confirms “This has been working for a year on a national scale, we have observed 11 or 12 outbreaks, which is extremely low compared to what we might have feared. What we now know from the modeling work we have carried out is that without vaccination, we would have suffered several hundred outbreaks. It’s now a certainty“.
And of the eleven outbreaks infected in one year, it mainly concerns the breeding of turkeys and chickens, only one of vaccinated ducks. This is an important step forward because reducing the circulation of this virus in our farms is ralso reduce the risk that this avian flu virus, if it circulates too much, will adapt and one day become easily transmissible to humans. “We know that these viruses are so evolving that letting them prosper is taking a completely unreasonable risk. So what was reasonable was to dry up this viral reservoir. And from this point of view, vaccination is part of this approach to preventing the risks of emergence in humans.“, argues Jean-Luc Guérin.
Lighten vaccination protocols tomorrow
So to improve knowledge of the avian flu virus, the work of field scientists continues, in particular to lighten vaccination protocols, with one dose instead of two. Scientists from the Toulouse veterinary school are also looking for a way to avoid monthly blood tests to detect the virus in ducks,
In 2023 there will be around 300 cases of avian flu in France. The vaccination campaign for ducks against highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) deployed last year is 70% supported by the State. Last year, the campaign was 85% supported, and the vaccination campaign in 2023 cost 100 million euros. As for the breeders’ losses, France covered nearly a billion euros.
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