Optika.id – The spread of bird flu has increased rapidly in France, which is the EU’s second largest poultry producer, in recent weeks, the Livestock Ministry said on Wednesday (21/12/2022), raising fears of further shortages.
France has seen an increase in bird flu outbreaks over the summer after witnessing the worst wave of the disease late last season, which killed some 20 million chickens, ducks and turkeys and caused a strong decline in poultry and foie gras production. and ducks).
“The health situation related to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in France has worsened since August and has worsened in recent weeks,” the animal husbandry ministry said on its website on Wednesday.
As of December 20, 217 outbreaks of bird flu had been detected in French farms, up from 100 on December 2, and the number of cases has also risen sharply in the wild, the ministry said.
French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau will travel to the outbreak area on Thursday to implement a vaccination strategy to combat the disease.
More than half of the outbreaks in livestock have been concentrated in the Pays de la Loire region, which has a lot of poultry.
France has tested the vaccine on webbed birds such as ducks and geese.
They hope to persuade other EU member states to adopt the same approach as poultry producers concerned about trade restrictions often placed on meat from vaccinated animals.
Bird flu has spread globally, affecting livestock, affecting more than 100 million birds in Europe and the United States alone.
Although the virus is not harmful in food, its spread worries both the government and the poultry industry because it can cause damage to livestock, possible restrictions on trade and risk of transmission to humans.
France last month established a “high” alert for bird flu, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors.
They have also imposed special measures including culling as a precautionary measure in some areas to prevent the spread of the disease.
