Ille-et-Vilaine, France: an outbreak of HPAI detected in a poultry farm
For the first time since January, an outbreak of bird flu was detected in a poultry farm in Ille-et-Vilaine, the Ministry of Agriculture announced on Tuesday, August 13. This first outbreak comes in the wake of the wildlife cases observed along the Breton coast in recent weeks. The main hypothesis is contamination via wild fauna. Indeed, this outbreak is located near an area naturally exposed to contamination via wild fauna, while several cases have been observed in seabirds along the Breton coast in recent weeks. Starting in October of last year, the French authorities began an HPAI vaccination campaign, which aimed to protect the nation’s commercial duck flocks from future outbreaks.
Latest figures from the ministry put the number of birds receiving a first dose of vaccine at more than 47.9 million (as of August 1). That represents an increase of around 6.3 million since the end of June.
