France: The Avian flu vaccine war rages on

A world first. This fall, France will test the vaccination of ducks on a large scale (50 million animals). This is the last chance attempt for the poultry industry. For three years, professionals have been dealing with a virus that has become very pathogenic, which is decimating farms. Containment, culling, eradication... These measures are no longer enough to contain the devastating effects of a disease that used to be seasonal (30 to 40 cases per year), which has become almost endemic, with thousands of cases per year. Last year, the sector had to slaughter more than 20 million heads again, and stop production in certain areas for weeks. The shortfall exceeded one billion euros. To date, major vaccination campaigns against avian flu have mainly concerned laying hens (Egypt, China, Mexico, etc.). The protocol planned ...