Avian flu in the Southwest: experts call for vaccinations this summer

Bird flu is back in the Southwest. According to the authorities’ latest count, the virus has been circulating in the region again since early May, with 81 infected farms, more than half of which are in Gers. To ensure the “survival” of the region’s poultry and duck farms, the agricultural organizations of four departments are asking the government to “deploy” the vaccine “at the height of summer.”

These are the chambers of agriculture of Geres, Landes, Hautes-Pyrenees, Pyrenees-Atlantiques, the interprofessional foie gras (Cifog) and the interregional association of lean poultry in New Aquitaine (Airvol). In a joint press release, they also demand contributions from the state and communities to manage this vaccination, as well as the “depopulation of all waterfowl” within a three-kilometer radius around the breeding farms.

“Now the challenge is really to survive in the poultry industry and poultry farming in the Southwest, in their thousands of jobs, in their history, their legacy, which is in the balance, ready to break,” these organizations warn.

Vaccination campaign “from autumn”

Two vaccines tested in France have already proven “very effective” in ducks bred for foie gras, the health safety agency (Anses) said Thursday, May 25, paving the way for a national vaccination campaign. The recurrence and magnitude of the avian influenza crises convinced European countries to develop a vaccination strategy.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the national vaccination campaign could be carried out “as early as autumn 2023” and the vaccination strategy would be completed in June. During the previous epizootic in 2022-2023, six million birds were slaughtered in France after 22 million in 2021-2022, according to the ministry.