France will soon test two vaccines against bird flu. This was announced after the 62nd outbreak of bird flu, this time at a duck farm in the south of the country.
According to French Agriculture Minister Julien Denormandie, vaccination is ultimately the only real remedy against the recurring animal disease. This week, Denormandie is holding talks with the poultry sector about the initial trials.
It is not yet known when the French want to start. According to him, the use of the vaccine should not be taboo because there are no alternative solutions for the long term.
In addition, Denormandie intends to convince his European counterparts to standardize this French vaccination throughout the EU. Next Monday, the agriculture ministers of the 27 EU countries will meet in Brussels. That meeting will be chaired for the first time by Minister Denormandie himself, since France holds the EU presidency in the first half of 2022.
At the end of November, the first sick animals were found in France, very close to the Belgian border, and on December 16 the first outbreak was registered in a forced duck breeding farm in the Gers department.
The current flu wave is the fourth epidemic wave to hit the country since 2015. Last year, there were nearly 500 outbreaks on French farms resulting in the culling of 3.5 million animals, mostly ducks.