France considering vaccination against bird flu

This winter and spring, France once again registered 475 outbreaks ofavian influenza at poultry farms, the vast majority being geese or duck farms in the far south-west of the country. This outbreak follows similar epidemics in 2015-17 which cost the poultry industry hundreds of millions in damage and lost revenue.

Foie gras hardest hit

Hardest hit was the foie gras industry which is strongly concentrated in the Landes and Gers regions and neighbouring areas near the border with Spain. During the earlier outbreaks, major importers of French foie gras, like China and Japan, banned the luxury product for months. Farmers faced extra costs to cover the land they use for their animals to protect them against infection by migrating wild birds, although these costs have been largely subsidised by the government.

Drastic measures

The minister for agriculture and food, Julien Denormandie, decided to take no chances and introduced drastic measures as soon as the first infections were discovered in late November. Large areas of the country were declared emergency zones with associated heightened biosecurity measures and restrictions on the transport and movement of animals. For the first time, not only animals at infected premises were culled but also all those on farms in the direct vicinity. Altogether, no less than 1.3 million ducks and other poultry have been culled, according to figures from the ministry of agriculture.

Minister Denormandie, who visited the region several times, promised – as is usual in France – to fully compensate the farmers, as well as companies further up in the chain from the state coffers. So far, € 89.5 million has already been paid out in advance while the final costs are still being calculated.

Prevention

But Denormandie also desperately wants to try to prevent future costly outbreaks of avian influenza in the country. Therefore, he invited representatives of all the organisations in the poultry industry to take part in a number of online meetings to discuss a more systemic approach.

“Those meetings offered an opportunity to acknowledge the engagement of all involved in the sector itself, including the national and regional authorities, both in the management of the crisis and the close consultation that there has been since March to establish a new route to beat avian influenza,” the minister said.

Anticipate, Prevent and Adapt

To establish that route, 6 ‘main axes’ of approach have been determined. In the first place, the ministry says, it is important to know in real time how many animals there are at all the poultry holdings in the country and particularly in the most vulnerable regions. Next, systems need to be in place to analyse the risk of avian influenza appearing and predict the necessary reduction in density at poultry holdings to mitigate the risk of further spread of the disease.

”…a positive way to create a system that protects the whole industry better…”

Poultry farmers and other companies also need to further improve governance, while biosecurity practices require further improvement at all levels along the product chain. Last but not least, the plan involves undertaking an analysis of the impact and feasibility of preventive vaccination from 2022. “The collective work continues. The route ahead is: Anticipate, Prevent and Adapt. This should offer us a positive way to create a system that protects the whole industry better, based on risk analysis, and one which takes into account the diversity of our production,” minister Denormandie concluded.