Avian flu continues to spread in France. The Ministry of Agriculture has therefore enlarged the municipalities targeted by preventive felling. 187 are now affected.
Slaughter continues in the southwest. In order to limit the spread of H5N8 avian influenza, the government has decided to slaughter healthy farms in the most affected areas. This January 9, a stop expands the municipalities targeted by this measure. These are now 187 municipalities that will have to set up these operations.
As of January 9, the Ministry of Agriculture reported 109 outbreaks of avian influenza in French farms. Contamination in wildlife seems to have stopped. The one between domestic birds, on the other hand, is raging even though it has slowed down. The government therefore wants to “accelerate the control of the epizootic”. This is what explains the decision to slaughter farms in a larger area. The municipalities concerned are located in the Landes and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, where the spread is still poorly controlled.
Two viruses in circulation
These operations are very labor intensive. On January 8, the government therefore appealed to students from veterinary schools. A stop authorizes volunteers to carry out the various missions, from the epidemiological investigation to samples, including health visits.
Interrupting the circulation of the virus is crucial, because the epidemic is now global. In Europe, more than 724 outbreaks have been listed, according to the ESA (Animal Health Epidemiological Surveillance) platform. But the H5N8 virus is also present beyond Europe: it has been detected in Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, Iran, Russia and Ukraine, as well as in South Korea and Nigeria.
According to the National Health Security Agency, the French situation is separate. “The highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 was introduced into France by two different migratory routes”, estimates the institution. The different cases reported in France would therefore not have been caused by the same virus and do not have the same origin. Two viruses and two routes of introduction coexist in the territory.
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