July 6, 2017

H5N8 bird flu outbreak hits France near Belgium border

The French agriculture ministry has confirmed a new case of bird flu on a poultry farm in the northern Brillon region, near the French-Belgian border.

"A case of highly contagious H5N8 bird flu is confirmed on June 30 on a poultry farm in Brillon," the ministry said in a statement, according to a Xinhua report.

The ministry said the affected poultry was located 15 kilometres from a non-commercial farm in Tournai, where 11 cases of avian flu were detected last month.

"To rapidly stop the virus' spread, protection and surveillance zones are set up immediately... In these areas, movement of all susceptible animals is prohibited and bio-security measures are reinforced," the ministry said.

Earlier this year, France slaughtered 600,000 ducks in its southwest region of Les Landes to prevent avian influenza contamination.

The highly pathogenic H5N8 influenza virus hit at least 10 European countries in October 2016, including Hungary, Austria, Germany, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Croatia, Switzerland and Poland.

By early December, according to the European Food Safety Authority, a total of 163 poultry farms had been found to be infected.