Avian flu in France: more than 150 infected farms, worrying outbreaks in the South West

On the sidelines of the new wave of Covid-19, avian flu is spreading like wildfire in farms in France. The progression is dazzling: in just 24 hours, 21 new farms have been affected by highly pathogenic avian influenza, bringing their number to 151.

In the southwest, the Landes find themselves, once again, in the heart of the turmoil. “The virus is active and circulating. The Landes are particularly affected due to the concentration of farms in this department”, said the Ministry of Agriculture. No less than 94 farms are, in fact, contaminated there, i.e. more than in all the other departments added together (28 in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 16 in the Gers, 8 in the North, 2 in Vendée and in the Hautes-Pyrénées and 1 in Lot-et-Garonne). “We have a ball in our stomachs, we are scared to death because it is getting closer”, confides to TF1 Damien Sourbié.

In addition to farm contamination, 21 cases were detected in wildlife and five backyards were affected.

France has around 20,000 poultry farms bred for meat, eggs or foie gras. At the end of December, the bird flu had already led to the slaughter of around 650,000 animals in one month. A situation which has further deteriorated significantly in these first days of the year 2022. Despite the many precautions taken – regular disinfection, isolation of geese and ducks, slaughter of animals from affected homes – it does not seem ready to stop .

The virus was identified for the first time in breeding on November 26 on a farm in the town of Warhem (North) where 160,000 laying hens were raised all year round in buildings. He arrived in the south-west of France on December 16, with a first confirmed outbreak in a farm of ducks ready to force-feed in the town of Manciet (Gers). Since then, the epizootic has continued to gain ground. “Are we on the verge of a new massive depopulation of the southwest?”, worry the Confédération paysanne and the Modef who recall that it is a “fourth crisis in six years”. “There is only one possible way to stop this infernal cycle […] reduce the extreme densities of certain territories in poultry”, they argue in a joint statement, calling for “put an end to the segmented operation of poultry sectors” which promotes the spread of the virus.

During this period of migration of birds from the Baltic to the temperate zones of the south, France is not the only one affected. 29 countries of the Old Continent are now affected, with nearly 400 outbreaks in livestock and 700 cases in wildlife.