Panic spread to the Landes poultry farming lands, which had to deal with the return of avian flu, despite sheltering the animals. 110 households are affected and feel neglected.
“A deep feeling of injustice overwhelms us, as we were convinced that all the efforts made would bear fruit,” said Marie-Hélène Cazaubon, the current president of the Chamber of Agriculture.
It must be said that after the appearance of the first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza of the H5N1 type, recorded in the Landes on December 17, the Ministry of Agriculture now lists 165 infected outbreaks, two-thirds of which are located still in the South-West department.
An alarming figure, despite the “95% of animals placed in the shelter”. And while the “production densities have drastically decreased since September”, as Marie-Hélène Cazaubon recalls. The latter sent a letter to breeders in the Landes, already hard hit by the epizootic of the previous winter, resulting in the slaughter of nearly 3.5 million poultry.
“It is between anger, amazement, despondency or dismay that we are experiencing this new episode” she said. Especially since at the beginning of November, the French authorities had asked producers to confine their poultry, in order to avoid contact with migratory birds potentially carrying the virus.
“understand and have answers”
The president of the Chamber of Agriculture wishes, on behalf of Landes breeders, “to understand and have answers to find out why, despite all the developments and investments made, their breeding systems remain so fragile in the face of viral circulation”. She added that “how the virus spread so quickly and over such long distances remains a mystery.”
According to the prefecture, 33 cases of suspected bird flu were on Friday, “awaiting confirmation”. She also indicated that an epidemiological study was being carried out in the Landes by the National Agency for Health and Food Safety (ANSES) with the aim of determining what was the origin of the appearance of the first contaminations and the causes of the spread of the virus.