The risk of avian influenza is considered negligible by the Ministry of Agriculture. The confinement obligation is lifted, but the crawl space is maintained.
The bird flu epidemic is over. The Ministry of Agriculture has just declared the end of the epizootic in a decree published in the Official Journal, this Friday, May 5.
“The level of epizootic risk of avian influenza (…) is qualified as” negligible “on the whole of the territory of metropolitan France”, indicates the text. The risk was considered until then as “moderate”.
This reassessment of the risk makes it possible to lift the containment obligations. On the other hand, in “ecological areas at particular risk” (wetlands) where wildlife is concentrated and which constitute stops for migratory birds, the risk is always high.
The crawl space is maintained
Appeared in France in November 2016, the highly pathogenic H5N8 virus for poultry has spread very quickly to hundreds of duck and geese farms in the South-West. At the last epidemiological point dating from March 29, 485 outbreaks were identified in farms and 55 in wildlife. Of the 9 departments affected, the Landes and the Pyrénées-Atlantiques are the most affected.
A hard blow for breeders who were just recovering from the 2015 epizootic. Professionals in the foie gras industry had to slaughter their animals again. Some 3.7 million animals have been killed to stem the spread of the virus.
At the same time, a crawl space was set up in 1,134 municipalities in the South West. Still in force, it bans any introduction of ducks until May 29. Objective: sanitation of buildings and development of routes to limit contact between farm animals and wildlife.
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