More avian flu found in France as depopulation continues

Among European countries, France has been the worst hit by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the current season.

(Yurii Bukhanovskyi | Bigstock)
(Yurii Bukhanovskyi | Bigstock)

Among European countries, France has been the worst hit by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in the current season. Efforts to bring the disease under control appear to be bearing fruit, however, and following a period of depopulation of susceptible flocks in high-risk areas, the government has set a date to begin restocking poultry premises although the virus continues to be detected elsewhere in the country.

New HPAI outbreaks caused by the H5N8 subtype of the virus in commercial poultry have been reported in the last week to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) by the respective national animal health agencies in Austria, Germany and Italy, and five countries have informed OIE that the virus has been detected in wild birds found dead.

France: compensation scheme introduced

Last week, the French agriculture ministry announced the introduction of a scheme of partial compensation for those in the poultry sector whose businesses have been hit by HPAI.

Application can be made if a minimum of 20 percent of the turnover has been lost to the effects of the H5N8 virus, or 30 percent in the case of service industries. The payment will take the form of a repayable advance calculated to cover 50 percent of the expected financial loss for the period January 1 to September 30, 2017.

A similar scheme last year paid out EUR10.9 million (US$11.5 million) to 69 companies. With the HPAI situation in France more challenging this year, the government has set aside EUR20 million (US$21.2 million), a figure that may be revised.

Meanwhile, depopulation of domestic ducks and geese continues in areas designated as HPAI-unstable and therefore at high risk of new outbreaks. On April 17 begins a six-week period for the cleaning, disinfection and resting of premises where poultry were kept. Restocking may start from May 29, providing the birds test negative for avian flu, and strict biosecurity measures are applied.

In March, agriculture minister, Stéphane Le Foll, ordered animal transport operators to clean and disinfect all vehicles and equipment used in the restricted areas for any farm livestock.

The agriculture ministry has not updated its data on the number of confirmed outbreaks of HPAI for almost two weeks, when it stood at 485.

However, during the last week, it has reported five new HPAI outbreaks caused by the H5N8 virus to the OIE, four of which were in the worst-affected department of Landes, and one in Pyrénées-Atlantiques. In two cases, ducks or geese tested positive following depopulation of an HPAI-unstable area, and two more prior to transport out of a restricted zone for slaughter. The other outbreak affected a flock of guinea fowl that had shown HPAI-like symptoms.

A flock of 1,320 ducks in the western department of Charentes-Maritime with clinical symptoms has tested positive for the low-pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus, according to a recent official report to the OIE.

New H5N8 outbreaks on poultry farms in Germany, Italy and Austria

Germany’s number of confirmed HPAI outbreaks caused by the H5N8 virus has increased by three over the last week to 102, according to the federal ministry of food and agriculture (BMEL). This figure includes 16 outbreaks at zoos and animal parks, a total unchanged from a week ago.

BMEL reports 34 active HPAI outbreaks in the country – two fewer than last week – and the number of resolved outbreaks has increased by five to 71.

In the last week, the ministry has reported eight new outbreaks of HPAI caused by the H5N8 virus in commercial poultry to the OIE. All were in the state of Lower Saxony. Apart from one outbreak in backyard chickens, flocks of fattening turkeys were affected, leading to the death or humane destruction of more than 144,000 birds.

From the Italian health authority and research organization for animal health and food safety (IZSVe) come reports of a further two outbreaks of HPAI caused by the H5N8 virus, bringing the country’s total outbreaks this season to 14. As well as a small backyard flock in Turin province in Piedmont, the disease has been detected in a flock of more than 130,000 laying hens in Bologna province in Emilia-Romagna.

Austria’s animal health agency has informed OIE about an HPAI outbreak caused by the H5N8 virus in a mixed backyard flock of around 100 poultry in Eisenstadt in Burgenland in mid-January.

OIE has also received a report from the authorities in Romania about eight H5N8 HPAI outbreaks in backyard flocks in a cluster around Dracea in Teleorman county, which borders Bulgaria.

Following a period without detection of the HPAI viruses, the agriculture department (Defra) of the UK government has lifted the housing restrictions on free-range poultry throughout England, while warning poultry keepers to remain on high alert for signs of the disease, and to maintain strict biosecurity for their flocks.

HPAI virus detected in wild birds

According to reports received by the OIE from the respective national veterinary authorities over the past week, the highly pathogenic H5N8 virus has been detected in more wild birds in Austria, France, Germany, Lithuania and Romania.

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