From this Monday, April 18 and until May 16, 2016, crawl space will be compulsory in all poultry farms in the South-West. 18 departments are concerned.
The fight against avian flu takes a new turn on Monday. Un arrested published in the Official Journal in February provides for a sanitary vacuum in all poultry farms, commercial or not, in the restricted zone (1). It therefore begins on April 18 and will last a month (until May 16). The Ministry of Agriculture adds, moreover, that all buildings that have held waterfowl must be disinfected and kept empty for at least 21 days, in 18 departments of the South-West, in total.
Then the restriction zone will be lifted “following a national screening program starting from May 2, 2016 […] if it demonstrates the absence of viral circulation”. These measures should make it possible to relaunch the sector in clean farms, thinks the government.
A colossal financial loss
But the eradication of avian flu does not stop there for the ministry. In a second arrest, it implements biosecurity measures applicable to all French farms. These must “prevent the introduction of the avian influenza virus into poultry holdings and limit the risk of spread within holdings and to other holdings”. Objective: not to witness such an epizootic again.
To achieve this, investments, in particular to renovate the buildings, will be essential. The Interprofessional Committee for Palmipeds with Foie Gras estimates that it needs 200 million euros to implement them, and has already warned that these measures will impact its production.
In response, the ministry announced in March that it was reserving 110 of the 130 million announced for the entire sector for waterfowl producers.
At present, 76 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza for poultry have already been detected in 8 departments of the South-West. The virus has affected chickens as well as guinea fowl, geese, ducks and capons
(1) The departments included in the restricted zone are Pyrénées Atlantiques, Hautes-Pyrénées, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Gers, Landes, Gironde, Lot et Garonne, Tarn et Garonne, Tarn, Aveyron, Lot, Dordogne, Corrèze and Haute-Vienne, and part of Cantal and Aude.
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