At the beginning of December 2015, “a breeder from Arrosès called us to report abnormal behavior among…
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In early December 2015, “a breeder from Arrosès called us to report abnormal behavior among his ducks. I’m going there to harvest various organs. Their laboratory analysis confirms contamination by the H5N9 virus,” recalls Henri Viel. This farm of 1,500 waterfowl is the first to be affected in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
explain, re-explain
“We feared the worst. There were then several homes in the Landes. The idea was already circulating that the virus was likely to appear regularly in the years to come. We had few illusions about our ability to stop it, ”recalls Henri Viel.
“Coming out of a force-feeding room without a sound, it made me desperate”
At a time when biosecurity rules are still far from being those of today, when comings and goings on farms do not raise questions, influenza is progressing rapidly. The strategy fluctuates. “The Ministry of Agriculture gave a guideline and then each prefect did his cooking. The big decisions were made in Paris by people who had never set foot in a farm, regrets Henri Viel. My superiors wasted a lot of time explaining the situation. »
He has both feet in the feathers and the virus up to his neck. Each morning brings its share of new homes. “Our role was to announce the bad news, to manage the analyzes and to organize the slaughterings. The vet lends a hand. Trained to care for animals, he finds himself killing them by the dozens. Many poultry incubate. They tested positive for the virus but still appear to be in good health.
Despair and dignity
“Most of the interventions, those in small or medium-sized farms, were carried out by lethal injection, animal by animal, explains the doctor. Intracardiac injection for chickens, in the venous sinus located at the back of the head for ducks. This injection had to be performed by a veterinarian. »
Henri Viel spends weeks there without weekends, whole days, in dozens of farms. Twelve hours straight, with a short lunch break. “We only left corpses behind. Coming out of a force-feeding room without a sound made me desperate. ” A feeling still relevant.
There remains the attitude of most breeders. Remarkable dignity. “One of them brought us a big box of chocolates a week after we euthanized all his chickens by lethal injection. Quite simply because he had appreciated our behavior”, still remembers Henri Viel. The family struck first, in Arrosès, showed the same nobility by inviting the veterinarian to lunch who had come to condemn his “very beautiful ducks” for the common good. “These people, helpless, saw that we were bothered to bother them. »
From the end of January 2016, the authorities decided to freeze the reinstatement to stem the spread of the virus. It’s the crawl space. We are still there in 2021.
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