an outbreak of “highly pathogenic” avian flu detected in a domestic poultry farm

A new outbreak of avian flu has been detected “in a domestic poultry farm” in La Poterie-Mathieu (Eure), according to a prefectural decree published on Saturday, less than ten days after the lowering of the national risk level. “Highly pathogenic”this outbreak of avian influenza, detected on Friday, requires “immediate eradication measures” poultry concerned, according to the decree which also placed eight nearby municipalities in “protection zone”.

These two areas form a “regulated zone” where poultry “must be sheltered”. “Only people essential to the running of the farm” are authorized to enter the establishments where the poultry are located, in order “to limit the risk of spreading the disease”, according to the decree. On December 17, the French Ministry of Agriculture announced that it was lowering the risk level linked to avian flu to “free” in mainland France, as no new outbreaks had occurred during the previous month.

Since August, France had been placed at “high” risk and the lowering of this level of risk made it possible to open “more favorable prospects for (the) sectors” of French poultry farming. Twenty-six European countries have detected the presence of avian influenza viruses on their territory since August 1, according to a bulletin from the French animal health epidemiological surveillance platform.

The virus is still circulating among wild birds in Europe, particularly in migration corridors, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. A first serious case of avian flu has also been detected in humans in the United States, American health authorities announced on Wednesday. The epizootic – the equivalent of an epidemic in animals -, which is raging from the Americas to Australia, affected France from 2015 to 2017 then almost continuously since the end of 2020. The country has euthanized tens of millions of poultry in recent years. The economic losses amount to billions of euros.