France confirms new outbreak of bird flu; disease spreads again across Europe

An outbreak of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (IAAP) recorded on a turkey farm in Northwest France worries the country and raises another alert for Europe, which is facing a seasonal wave of infections. The focus was confirmed by the French Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday (28). The outbreak is the first recorded on a farm in the Brittany region, which is close to an area where an infected wild bird was found. Due to this and other confirmed cases of HPAI in wild birds in recent days, the French government has raised the national alert level for Avian Influenza from insignificant to moderate. “Flocks of poultry in areas exposed to contact with wild birds will be confined indoors,” the French Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement. The disease has led to the slaughter of millions of birds around the world, causing gigantic economic impacts. The virus hits Europe during autumn and winter, with recent outbreaks confirmed in production units in Germany, the Netherlands, ...