the South of the Channel has priority

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“Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD), like bluetongue (BFT), threatens the economy of our sectors. La Manche is the leading dairy department in France and we have a sector of excellence with pre-salted lamb. It is now that the silage is finished, that we must go there and vaccinate the animals. Vaccines are paid for by the state.”

It is in these terms that the prefect of La Manche, Xavier Brunetière, explained his presence, Thursday October 31, 2024, in the exploitation of the Earl les Nicollières in La Croix-Avranchin, delegated commune of Saint-James, in gates of Brittany.

Here, as in 105 municipalities in the department, breeders are encouraged to vaccinate their animals.

Vaccination in Saint-James

Jean-Marie Dubois and his wife Géraldine took over the farm from Jean-Claude and Marie-Thérèse Dubois in 2011. They raise around sixty dairy cows, a few suckling cows and produce wheat, rapeseed and grain corn on some 130 hectares, alongside their agricultural work company with ten employees.

The couple was convinced to vaccinate their animals, “by hearing the dramatic testimonies of certain operators”.

The South Channel, a buffer zone

At the crossroads of the departments of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany, Orne, Mayenne and Calvados, the South Channel is a buffer zone.

The South Channel has priority in vaccination against MHE.

692,000 cattle in the Channel

Epizootic haemorrhagic disease (EHD) is a viral disease, not transmissible to humans. It affects cattle and sheep or deer and is transmitted by midges, which bite the animals.

“Between June 1 and October 17, 2,306 outbreaks were recorded in France,” recall the prefecture services.

“The five departments of Normandy total 1.7 million cattle. Manche has 692,000, making it the leading bovine department. As of October 2, 329,000 were eligible for vaccination,” indicates Hervé Marie. The president of the Manche Health Defense Group was present alongside the prefect, the president of the Manche Chamber of Agriculture, Pascal Férey and Xavier Quentin, veterinarian at the Clinique des Estuaires de Saint-James and president of the Group veterinarians of La Manche.

In La Manche, we vaccinate without waiting for the disease.

Pascal Férey speaks out for the “need to protect our own livestock and others. We must be as tight as possible, especially since two new variants have been detected in Holland. In La Manche, we vaccinate without waiting for the disease.”

The president of the Chamber of Agriculture asks the Ministry of Agriculture to reopen negotiations with Spain as quickly as possible, to resume exports and secondly, with the Middle East, “where we sell of dairy genetics. Vaccination exists today. Last September, that was not the case. We treated the animals with anti-inflammatories and mass disinfestation, a catastrophe for biodiversity,” he notes.

Two vaccines on the market

Two million doses of vaccines are available on the market. “But it is important to refer to a veterinarian, because one of the two is not valid for export,” emphasizes Pascal Férey, who has paid the price professionally for this lack of knowledge and must revaccinate his animals.

If the state provides the vaccine free of charge. The act of injection – “an injection in the fold of the neck or under the tail,” explains Arnaud Lafforgue – remains the responsibility of the breeder. “The veterinarian is paid per cow or for the time spent, depending on the organization of the breeding,” explains the Saint-James veterinarian, Xavier Quentin. He must then stamp all the cards. These are liberal acts, difficult to give a price.”

Vaccinate without animal suffering

At La Croix-Avranchin, around sixty cows were vaccinated in a quarter of an hour, without a start.

Hervé Marie denied the rumor that vaccines cause more abortions. “There is never zero risk, but the benefit-risk value is definitely there,” he concluded.

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