The French government on Tuesday raised the risk level associated with bird flu “to the maximum” due to “several outbreaks in the breeding season” and the presence of the virus in migratory birds flying over the country.
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A few weeks before the end-of-year holidays, when tables are filled with poultry and goose liver, the Ministry of Agriculture announces in a press release that it has “taken the decision to increase the risk of animal disease to the maximum”. Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which is widespread in most regions of the world.
The risk level has therefore increased from “moderate” to “high”, according to a decree published in the Official Journal and which came into force immediately.
The measure requires the “confinement” of poultry that normally live outdoors – meaning they must remain indoors. There are exceptions for small businesses.
The text justifies this with “confirmation of several outbreaks in breeding in mainland France” – the government has so far only reported on one case, which was identified at a turkey farm in western France at the end of November.
The decree also mentions “the possibility of the virus spreading” through contaminated migratory birds “traversing mainland France.”
Generally, the first cases in commercial poultry are due to direct or indirect contact (excrement) with wild birds, then the virus spreads through the transport of animals, people and animal materials from farm to farm.
On Friday, Belgian authorities reported an outbreak of bird flu on a farm in northwest Belgium, near the border with France.
According to the latest bulletin from the French Animal Health Epidemiological Surveillance Platform (ESA), which monitors contamination of farm and wild animals in Europe, 27 European countries have detected the virus since August 1.
Hungary, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria, Denmark and Italy record the most cases in livestock.
“Caution”
If an outbreak is detected, surviving poultry are euthanized.
In France, more than thirty million poultry have been eliminated since summer 2021. The country was affected by bird flu almost continuously from 2015 to 2017 and since the end of 2020.
Hoping to finally get the virus under control, Paris this fall made vaccination against bird flu mandatory for farms with more than 250 ducks, excluding breeding ducks.
Ducks have been identified as vectors for the spread of the virus because they shed it into the environment several days before symptoms appear. Tests showed that vaccinated spider webs transmitted very little of the virus.
“We estimate that almost all ducks have received at least their first dose today,” Marie-Pierre Pé, director of the association of foie gras professionals Cifog, told AFP.
“We hope that this new dike [contre le virus] will be enough. “This virus has made us so accustomed to negative surprises that caution is warranted,” she added.
Cifog calls on “all professionals to respect biosecurity rules” (changing clothes when entering the premises, sheltering animals, disinfecting wheels and undercarriage of vehicles, etc.).
“Don’t worry” about Christmas, however, explains Ms. Pé: “Foie gras is often already on the shelves. Raw livers that need to be prepared will arrive and at the moment there is no reason to believe there will be any impact.
However, there will be no abundance. Compared to the “absolutely terrible” year of 2022 – ducks were decimated by the virus or preventative slaughter – production has “returned to normal”, but supply remains 33% below 2020.
The profession has warned that foie gras will cost “around 5%” more in supermarkets again this year, following a price increase of more than 15% in 2022.