The lull was short-lived. Just a few weeks. On April 29, the Ministry of Agriculture was pleased to raise the risk of avian flu from “high” to “moderate” throughout the national territory. A measure taken when no case had been detected since mid-April. Alas, on May 3, the highly pathogenic avian flu virus reappeared in the south-west of France. Since then, the counters for the number of homes have been running again. Friday, May 19, fifty-five cases were recorded, including thirty-nine in the Gers, fourteen in the Landes and two in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
“The resurgence came from the Gers, where there had already been an outbreak [à l’hiver 2022]. It is a breeding in building »explains Marie-Pierre Pé, director of the Interprofessional Committee for Foie Gras Waterfowl (Cifog), who adds: “ It is astonishment. All the conditions were met to avoid risks. With this new episode, everyone is mobilizing, but this time we wonder if we will win the battle. »
Among the farmers, morale is at an all-time low. “ We are still going to slaughter ducks, but also breeders”, launches Julien Mora, representative of the Movement for the Defense of Family Farmers (Modef) of the Landes, based in Mugron, in the south of the department. He tells : “ There is a case 20 km from my home. I expected in two weeks a delivery of ducklings that I had to finish feeding at the end of August. I don’t know if I will receive them. In 2022, our breeding was empty from the beginning of January to the beginning of May. We have lost a third of the production. We hoped to return to a normal level this year. » A revival favored by the reconstitution of breeding stocks, and therefore of ducklings, to populate the farms.
Resentment is equal to the ordeals passed through without seeing a way out. “Nothing has been resolved after years of crisis. We were laughed at. We were presented with miraculous solutions such as confinement of poultry and biosecurity measures. We were called rednecks, we were looked down on, and now everyone is falling”loose Mr. Mora, whose union defends, like the Confédération paysanne, the survival of the French model of open-air poultry farming.
Crucial issue of funding
The government is now pushing vaccination as a response to the crisis. The Minister of Agriculture, Marc Fesneau, had mentioned, at the end of December 2022 in Vendée, a department then hard hit by avian flu, a vaccination deadline, at best, in the fall of 2023. Or in October. While a new wave of epizootics is now affecting France, the sixth since 2015, this calendar is being called into question.
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