This time, it is not an outbreak of avian flu but of Newcastle disease (formerly called paramyxovirosis virus) which was detected in a breeding of broiler pigeons located in Guiche, in the Basque Country, indicates the prefecture Pyrénées-Atlantiques, this Friday. The birds of this breeding were put down preventively to limit the diffusion of this virus.
A mortality rate that may be “extremely high”
“Newcastle disease, different from avian influenza, belongs, like it, to the category of avian plagues, and causes digestive, nervous and respiratory symptoms in birds, explains the prefecture. The mortality rate can be extremely high for the animals concerned. This disease is very rarely transmissible to humans and if it occurs, it results in mild conjunctivitis. As with avian flu, the consumption of poultry meat, foie gras and eggs poses no risk to humans.
As a precaution, a protection zone with a radius of 3 km around the outbreak has been set up by the authorities and a surveillance zone (10 km) for a minimum period of 30 days. Seven municipalities in Pyrénées-Atlantiques and 13 municipalities in Landes are affected by these “biosecurity measures in poultry farms and the ban on the establishment of poultry and the movement of poultry and captive birds”, specifies the prefecture. Hunting pigeons is also prohibited in the regulated sector.