French bird flu wave ends after 10 million birds culled
28/06/2023 11:49
PARIS, June 28 (Reuters) - A wave of bird flu outbreaks
in France last month has come to a halt after the culling of 10
million birds this season, the farm ministry said on Wednesday,
as it confirmed it would launch vaccination against the virus in
the autumn.
France has been among countries worst affected by the
unprecedented spread of avian influenza - commonly called bird
flu - that has killed hundreds of millions of birds in the past
two years, disrupting supply of poultry meat and eggs.
Some 22 million birds were culled in France in the 2021/22
season.
Vaccination against bird flu will start in October and will
be mandatory for all ducks across France, making it the first
country in the world to launch a nationwide vaccination
campaign, farm ministry officials told reporters.
The length of the vaccination campaign - whether all year
round or just in the autumn and winter - is still to be decided,
depending on the budget allocated, the officials said.
The French Agency for Veterinary Medicinal Products (ANMV)
has cleared the use of vaccines from three companies, France's
Ceva Animal Health, Germany's Boehringer Ingelheim and U.S. firm
Zoetis Animal Health ZTS.N , they said.
A pre-order for 80 million doses was launched in April and a
formal decision is expected next month, the officials said.
Tests carried out in France on Ceva and Boehringer
Ingelheim's vaccines showed favourable results. The officials
could not say where Zoetis had carried out its tests.
Governments have increasingly considered vaccination in the
past months to stem the spread of the virus, although some are
resisting due to concerns it could hit exports to countries that
have banned vaccinated poultry on fears infected birds could
slip through the net.
(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide
Editing by Mark Potter)
((Sybille.deLaHamaide@thomsonreuters.com; +336 8774 4148;))