One epidemic can hide another. Five French farms in northern France were infected with bird flu in the space of two weeks, raising the specter of the crisis that wreaked havoc last year.
The northern prefecture on Thursday took new health protection measures: in a “surveillance zone” of 10 km around the outbreaks, veterinary visits and samples will be taken and the hunting of waterfowl and game birds is prohibited, say the authorities in a press release.
About thirty municipalities concerned
This area covers more than thirty municipalities, in the northernmost region of the Nord department. France has around 20,000 poultry farms raised for meat, eggs or foie gras.
The virus was first identified in breeding on November 26 in a farm in the town of Warhem, in the North, where 160,000 laying hens were reared all year round in buildings. Four other cases have since been confirmed in the same department. In each case in breeding, the animals are slaughtered.
“It is absolutely necessary to find the cause of the contamination and to try to control the situation very quickly”, reacted Laurent Verhaeghe, president of the agricultural union FDSEA of North. He recalls that “as long as the situation is not cleaned up”, the breeders will not be able to put other animals into production: “These are incredible shortfalls because the fixed charges continue on the farms”.
Anger against compulsory confinement
Recurrent health crises due to avian influenza generate considerable costs for professionals and the State, as well as losses of the export market.
To reduce the risk of contamination, the health authorities asked, in early November, all outdoor and organic producers to confine their poultry in order to avoid contact with migratory birds potentially carrying the virus.
But the first cases were detected in conventional farms, in buildings, reviving the anger of the agricultural unions Confédération paysanne and Modef who denounce the obligation of confinement.
“Industrialize agriculture”
“We have said over and over that locking up animals from free-range farms would not prevent the epidemic, which it does. The risk of the virus spreading in barns has been proven and known for a long time. Making outdoor breeding responsible and culpable only serves the interests of those who wish to industrialize agriculture, ”they said in a press release on Thursday.
With six other organizations, including the National Federation of Organic Agriculture, the unions have lodged an appeal with the Council of State and support farmers who are resistant to confinement.