The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation for aggravated deception. The H5N8 avian influenza epizootic may have knowingly been spread in the southwest.
The farms of the South-West are decimated. More than 200 outbreaks of avian influenza have been identified in France. In 415 municipalities, preventive slaughterings are organized. Could this massacre have a criminal origin? The public health center of the Paris tribunal de grande instance has in any case taken up the case, reveals theAFP this February 9. He opened an investigation for “aggravated deception”.
This preliminary investigation stems directly from a report from the Ministry of Agriculture. This evokes the suspicious movements of a truck from Almayrac (Tarn), where the H5N8 virus has contaminated several farms. Loading of infected birds would have spread the pathogen. But according to information from theAFP, the Almayrac cooperative would have taken the risk of this transport, despite the suspicions of contamination. The delivery was deadly, since it headed for Lot-et-Garonne, Gers and Hautes-Pyrénées. Three departments heavily affected by bird flu.
The South-West at the heart of the epizootic
The Paris prosecutor’s office therefore wishes to determine whether the epizootic was caused voluntarily. Because farmers in the area complained from the first hours: they claimed to have received animals that were already sick. These complaints will have to be confirmed by the investigation. It was entrusted to the local center of the Midi-Pyrénées gendarmerie and to the Central Office for the fight against environmental and public health attacks.
As a reminder, H5N8 avian influenza has infected several hundred farms and 227 outbreaks have been reported to health authorities. Most of it is located in the south-west with 90 reports in the Gers and 81 in the Landes.
#Avian Flu. Have contaminated ducks been sent voluntarily to the Southwest?
> @francebleu : https://t.co/58zbYpbYZ1 pic.twitter.com/nMuPC4zyTy
– Visactu (@visactu) February 9, 2017
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