A breath of fresh air for poultry farmers. The stabilization of the avian flu epidemic over a large part of French territory opens the door to a strategy of gradual repopulation on farms, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Tuesday. This will first be the case in Pays-de-la-Loire, a region hard hit in recent months, where an “improvement in the health situation” has now been observed. The device, concerted with the interprofessions, will begin these “next days”.
It will concern, to begin with, duck and geese farms located in areas with the “least dense” waterfowl populations. “The reinstatement of waterfowl will remain prohibited until May 15 in the 45 densest municipalities but also within a radius of three kilometers around 30 farms with high strategic stakes for avian genetics”, indicates the ministry. Sensitive sites (hatcheries and breeding farms) remain protected, especially in a context where the contamination of wildlife “remains high throughout the national territory”.
More than 20 million poultry had been slaughtered due to avian flu between the end of 2021 and the spring of 2022, a record for France. Since the resumption of the epizootic this summer, 4.6 million poultry have been euthanized on French farms. “The State is continuing its support to compensate the economic losses suffered by breeders”, indicates the Ministry of Agriculture.