About thirty wild birds were discovered dead in the Dombes this week. (Illustration photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP)
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Since the start of the week, around thirty dead birds have been discovered near two towns in Dombes, near Lyon, where the avian flu virus had been detected on bird corpses in early December. To prevent the virus from spreading to farms, the control perimeter has been extended to forty municipalities.
The discovery at the beginning of December of two cases of avian flu in the wild fauna of Dombes, in Ain, made authorities fear that the H5N1 virus was spreading in the department. In order to prevent the spread of the disease, in particular to farms, a restricted zone had been established within a radius of 5 km around the towns of Birieux and Boulignieux, where the dead birds had been found.
Also read: Ain: a second case of avian flu detected in a wild bird
A little less than a month later, this Tuesday, January 4, the prefecture of Ain warns that since the beginning of the week “around thirty dead birds were discovered in other towns in the area“. According to local authorities, the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus,”therefore actively circulates in wildlife in this area“.
The control area extended to 40 municipalities
To date, no commercial livestock has been infected with the disease in the Ain, assures the prefecture, and in order to maintain this situation and limit the contamination of more wild birds, the temporary control zone has been extended to forty towns located in the heart of the Dombes.
Strict health measures accompanied by restrictions on the movement of poultry and their products must now be observed. Commercial farms must also be sheltered and be subject to reinforced surveillance, while backyards will now have to be cloistered. Breeders are called upon to exercise great vigilance, in particular by avoiding taking their animals out.
Pie discovered by dead birds must be reported without delay to the municipalities in whose territories they are discovered.
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