This winter, France was largely spared this infection, which can affect almost all species of birds, wild and domestic. The bird flu risk level, which has been considered “high” since December, was just downgraded to “moderate” on Saturday.
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France has just lowered the bird flu risk rate. It goes from ‘high’ to ‘medium’ which again allows the poultry to be brought out to the farms. This was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture on Saturday, March 16. This is good news because from December poultry can no longer stay outside. From now on, walks are again possible with this reduced risk. France has only recorded 10 bird flu outbreaks on farms since August 2023. This is 30 times less than in the previous season. A welcome improvement, as between 2021 and 2023 France had to cull 30 million poultry contaminated with bird flu.
Several factors explain this improvement. Less circulation of the virus in the wild, while the northward migration of birds across France comes to an end. France recorded 300 fewer wild outbreaks than in 2022. We also need to see the positive effect of duck vaccination, which was made mandatory on farms for the first time in winter, emphasizes Jean-Luc Guérin, professor at the National Veterinary Office in Toulouse. More than 21 million ducks received at least one bird flu shot this year.
Implementation of measures other than vaccination
However, the question of future expansion of vaccination to other poultry such as chickens or turkeys is not resolved due to its impact, around 100 million this year. The Ministry of Agriculture further recalls the importance of measures other than vaccination in the fight against avian flu, “biosecurity” measures such as disinfection of equipment, reduction of water points, installation of protective nets or scaring wild birds to prevent transmission of the virus. About 92 poultry farms have been selected to test the new pilot measures from March this year. The aim is to find effective alternatives to forced incarceration.
