More than 1,300 farms have been infected with the virus since the end of November. However, the epizootic is losing momentum.
Massive slaughter of sick but also healthy animals has been organised.
AFP
This is a record on French territory. Since the start of the bird flu epizootic in November, 16 million poultry have been slaughtered, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Monday. “The epidemic peak was passed at the end of March and the epizootic is decelerating,” he noted, however.
Since the first case identified in the north of France at the end of November, 1,364 farms have been infected with the virus. In Vendée and in the neighboring departments, the authorities empty the farms via massive slaughter of sick but also healthy animals, as a preventive measure.
A first
Ordinarily, crises linked to avian influenza remain generally confined to the South-West, in particular to duck farms intended for the production of foie gras. Last year, nearly 500 outbreaks were recorded in farms and 3.5 million animals, mainly ducks, slaughtered.
Avian influenza has a seasonal character. Transported by migrating birds from Asia, it usually begins to develop in October in Europe and continues until April. But for the first time, wild birds contaminated farms this year during their migration from southern countries, which led to a second wave, which is coming to an end. “It is especially the gallus – a variety of hen – which are affected”, specifies the ministry.
(AFP)