The slaughter of millions of waterfowl each year, the hope of an effective vaccine well received by the sector… The solutions mentioned to stem the episodes of avian flu that raged in France from 2015 to 2017, then almost continuously since end of 2020, are not overcrowded. But Toulouse researchers have just opened up a new path to try to limit the impact of avian influenza and avoid wondering every year if there will be foie gras or duck breast at Christmas.
In a publication published Monday in the journal Veterinary Researcha joint scientific team from the National Veterinary School of Toulouse (ENVT) and of INRAE* reveals the results obtained thanks to a mathematical model based on the geographical propagation of the wave of H5N8 in the winter of 2016-2017.
No quick fix
These researchers, specializing in “interactions between hosts and pathogens” (IHAP) tested six scenarios by gradually reducing the number of waterfowl farms in specific areas. “The results of the simulations show that reducing the densities of duck farms in the 20% of the municipalities with the highest density of waterfowl farms would reduce by three the number of secondary infections generated by an infected farm”, indicates the team of the l ‘IHAP in a statement. Reducing the number of farms in a given area would therefore “significantly reduce the risk for the entire poultry production chain”.
Raising less to lose less would not, however, be the miracle solution. “The implementation of additional measures such as the preventive slaughter of farms at risk or the vaccination of poultry nevertheless seem necessary”, insist the authors of the study. This new light could well create a stir in the interprofession.
* National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment