France is taking precautions against the spread of bird flu in Europe. The level of risk is moderate or even high in some areas.
Almost the entire French territory is on alert. In 64 departments, municipalities are at high risk of contamination by H5N8 avian influenza. The highly pathogenic virus is actively circulating in Europe. The Ministry of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Forestry deployed containment measures in these spaces on November 17.
The list of municipalities concerned was fixed by an opinion of the National Agency for Health Security (ANSES). Entered on November 10, its role was to assess the risk of transmission of H5N8 influenza to birds raised on French soil. Because the threat is real: in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, birds have died from infection. The virus mainly affects migratory species, an expansion in France is therefore not excluded.
Local measures
Several professions are covered by this decree. Owners of domestic birds and poultry professionals are, unsurprisingly, at the heart of precautions. But in the middle of the hunting season, followers of this hobby are also exposed to the flu virus.
The risk is therefore raised to a moderate level throughout the territory. It is high in some departments and in wetlands that host wild birds.
In these areas, the transport of “waterfowl callers” is prohibited, as is the release of game birds and assemblages of birds. Professional or amateur breeders are, for their part, subject to an obligation of confinement. A net should, at a minimum, isolate the breeding of wild animals.
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