“There are no short-term solutions other than the depopulation of poultry farms,” explained Julien Denormandie this March 22, 2022 during a trip to Vendée. And I can tell you that as agriculture minister, when I implement these measures, they are difficult decisions because opposite is the distress of the breeders. But there are no other choices to prevent the spread of this virus fromavian flu, and in particular to prevent other territories from being contaminated. »
> Read also : The nightmare of Vendée poultry farmers (03/21/2022)
“A very difficult situation”
“We have been facing a very difficult situation for several weeks now,” insisted the Minister of Agriculture, who came to discuss with local actors. While the virus has just been spotted in Morbihan and an outbreak has been formalized in Ille-et-Vilaine, more than 500 farms have been affected in Vendée by the bird flu virus in recent weeks.
This is “what led us to set up several depopulation operations, repeated the minister. Several million poultry have had to be slaughtered in recent weeks. The department has 1,500 farms hosting at least one poultry workshop.
Concretely, “all poultry will be removed, even those from healthy farms. They will be valued at the slaughterhouse, specified the president of the chamber of agriculture, Joel Limouzin. Our priority is to remove the corpses contaminated farms. The aim is to protect the strategic sites of genetic selection. And it all starts now. The sooner it will be, the sooner it will allow us to start again on a good basis. »
On the other hand, the Minister did not mention any timetable for the return to production of the farms. “Neither the minister nor the scientists can comment on this point today,” added Joël Limouzin.
“Prevent the virus from continuing to spread”
“The priority is to prevent the virus from continuing to spread,” continued the minister. To do this, we have put in place new means, means to depopulate farms where the virus was present, but also to depopulate in anticipation where the virus would probably have gone. »
“Means ofrendering and storage of corpses have been deployed to ensure that we can go faster than the virus,” added Julien Denormandie. And to specify that new capacities had been identified by the State, in terms of technical landfill centers, but also pre-storage capacities on dedicated sites “which were created for this purpose, according to a protocol validated by the authorities. health and science”.
“Where a few days ago we were facing a real bottleneck, today, this is no longer the case, assures the Minister. We have succeeded in reducing the pressure on the number of slaughtered animals that we have to manage. Julien Denormandie thus indicates that the corpses of poultry will be picked up more quickly. Since yesterday, 10 contaminated farms have been counted per day instead of 30 to 40 previously, giving hope for an improvement in the situation, “even if it remains extremely difficult, probably for several more days”.
“We are facing a combination of 4 virus which surprised scientists causing an exacerbated virulence in the natural environment and which comes from wildlife. Breeders must absolutely get rid of their guilt, continued the president of the chamber of agriculture. The virus was not in the farms originally but came from outside.
2 million euros already paid
The other priority is to support breeders. “Two million euros have begun to be paid to a few dozen files that have come to us,” said the minister. We will continue to do so. »
“Obviously very substantial envelopes will be deployed to compensate and support breeders on health losses – for farms that had to be slaughtered – but also on economic losses. Laying hen farms are affected in the same way. Everyone will be supported financially,” he summed up.
Two vaccination experiments in the coming days
“Our third priority is to start preparing for the future,” continued Julien Denormandie. Despite the difficulties of the moment, we must organize ourselves to bounce back better. We have discussed it a great deal this afternoon. We tackled the issues of repopulation, genetic heritage — a treasure in our country — but also the question of vaccines which we are working on. »
“We are also launching two vaccination experiments in the coming days,” he continued. We are the first European country to do so, while other countries in Europe are affected like us. Italy is currently experiencing a dramatic situation with this avian influenza virus. »
The Minister finally recalled that there was no risk in consuming these products from livestock, it is even an element of support to do so! A parallel meeting was held on March 22, 2022 at the Ministry of Labor on the support that can be put in place for partial activity or partial unemployment to support heavily impacted downstream processors. “They will also be accompanied. We must support the whole chain,” the minister added.
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