France wipes out ducks and wild waterfowl due to new bird flu outbreaks

Since May 4, 21 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza have been detected in southwestern France (in the departments of Gers and Landes). Ducks were mostly affected, the French Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement.

In this regard, all livestock in the immediate vicinity of the affected farms will be destroyed, and special sanitary zones will be introduced around the outbreak centers within a radius of 3, 10 and 20 km. In addition, a decision was made to preventively depopulate waterfowl in these areas in order to limit the spread of infection between poultry farms.

At the end of April, due to the long absence of new outbreaks, the country lifted the restrictions that had been in place since November 21, 2022, and the risk level was changed from "high" to "moderate". Earlier, the French government also announced plans to vaccinate agricultural livestock against AIV. The launch of the vaccination program is scheduled for autumn 2023. On May 21, Agriculture Minister Marc Féno is reported to speak at the opening of the annual general session of the World Organization for Animal HEALTH (OIE) to inform other countries of France's livestock immunization plans.