May 29, 2023

France set to start bird flu vaccination programme in autumn

France confirmed its aim to launch a vaccination programme against bird flu in the autumn after results from a series of tests on the vaccination of ducks showed "satisfactory effectiveness", the farm ministry said.

A severe strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has ravaged poultry production around the world, leading to the culling of over 200 million birds in the past 18 months.

France has been the worst-hit country in the European Union and is facing a strong resurgence of outbreaks since early this month in the southwestern part of the country, mainly among ducks.

It had already launched a pre-order of 80 million vaccines last month, which needed to be confirmed based on final tests carried out by French health safety agency ANSES.

"These favourable results provided sufficient guarantees to launch a vaccination campaign as early as autumn 2023," the farm ministry wrote on its website.

- Reuters