outbreaks, major importers of French foie gras, like China and Japan, banned the luxury product for months. Farmers faced extra costs to cover the land they use for their animals to pro- tect them against infection by migrating wild birds, although these costs have been largely subsidised by the government.
Drastic measures This time the minister for agriculture and food, Julien Denor- mandie, decided to take no chances and introduced drastic measures as soon as the first infections were discovered in late November. Large areas of the country were declared emergen- cy zones with associated heightened biosecurity measures and restrictions on the transport movement of animals. For the first time, not only animals at infected premises were culled but also all those on farms in the direct vicinity. Altogether, no less than 1.3 million ducks and other poultry have been culled, ac- cording to figures from the ministry of agriculture. Minister De- normandie, who visited the region several times, promised – as is usual in France – to fully compensate the farmers, as well as companies further up in the chain from the state coffers. So far, € 89.5 million has already been paid out in advance while the final costs are still being calculated. But Denormandie also desperately wants to try to prevent future costly outbreaks of AI in the country. Therefore, he has invited representatives of all the organisations in the poultry industry to take part in a number of online meet-
ings to discuss a more systemic approach. “Those meetings offered an opportunity to acknowledge the engagement of all involved in the sector itself, including the national and regional authorities, both in the management of the crisis and the close consultation that there has been since March to establish a new route to beat AI,” the minister said.
Six axes To establish that route, six ‘main axes’ of approach have been determined. In the first place, the ministry says, it is impor- tant to know in real time how many animals there are at all the poultry holdings in the country and particularly in the most vulnerable regions. Next, systems need to be in place to analyse the risk of AI appearing and predict the necessary re- duction in density at poultry holdings to mitigate the risk of further spread of the disease. Poultry farmers and other com- panies also need to further improve governance, while biose- curity practices require further improvement at all levels along the product chain. Last but not least, the plan involves undertaking an analysis of the impact and feasibility of pre- ventive vaccination from 2022. “The collective work contin- ues. The route ahead is: Anticipate, Prevent and Adapt. This should offer us a positive way to create a system that protects the whole industry better, based on risk analysis, and one which takes into account the diversity of our production,” minister Denormandie concluded.
▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 5/6, 2021
Geese and duck farms in the far south-west of France have been affected by avian in- fluenza since 2015, causing serious business continuity issues.
29
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44
