France: Avian influenza almost gone after vaccination

farms with over 250 animals began. There is one change though: the department of agriculture only pays 40% of the vaccines while that was 70% last year and 85% in the year the campaigns started. In previous years, France suffered some major outbreaks of avian influenza, with hundreds of farms affected and millions of ducks or other poultry culled. In October 2023, the department started its first vaccination campaign – a first in the world – the French authorities say. The campaign was supported by both the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the European Commission. “Vaccination has been recognised by WOAH as an additional tool for controlling the disease, one that must be founded on strict surveillance to demonstrate the absence of circulation of the virus,” the Department of Agriculture quotes in a recent document. “Recourse to vaccination should not lead to negative consequences for international trade insofar as member countries follow WOAH standards.” In the EU, ...