Faced with the rapid spread of the H5N1 virus, the government has chosen to change the strategy.
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On the exploitation of Julien Mora, representative of the Family Operators (FashionF) of the Landes, Mugron, in the south of the department, the silence reigns. No more duck sound. “We delivered our ducks fat on December 27th. We had to get ducklings on the 4th or January 5th. It was not the case,” says Mora.
The avian influenza epidemic that ravages again southwestern France has shoved the projects. Faced with the diffusion of the H5N1 virus, it was decided to suspend the establishment of ducklings in areas close to the detected foci. First a week, then two. And now, the feedback of animals is no longer programmed. “If I’m optimistic, I will say that ducklings will arrive at the end of April, if I am realistic, rather the third week of May,” says Mora.
The sanitary conditions have greatly degraded in the southwest, especially in the Landes, a country of foie gras. On January 4, the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, felt that even though the new avian influenza epizootic was “a great source of concern”, the situation was better than that of winter 2021. He then evoked 41. Fireplaces of contamination in farms on the national territory. Two weeks later, this number has been multiplied by five, to reach 216. The tension is especially strong in the Landes, with 144 households identified, but also, to a lesser extent, in the Atlantic Pyrenees and the Gers.
anger and misunderstanding
Faced with this rapid spread, the government has chosen to change strategy. The services of the Ministry of Agriculture announced, Monday 17 January, a massive depopulation of livestock in all contaminated areas. “Nearly 2.5 million poultry will be slaughtered, including 900,000 palmipedes,” says Mora. Slaughterhouses were requisitioned to conduct this operation, which should take place over three weeks.
This quota of eliminated animals is added to those already killed since the beginning of the epizootic. Knowing that the first discovery of an H5N1 virus infection focus was on November 27, 2021, in a breeding of 160,000 laying hens in Warhem, in the North. And that his arrival in the Landes is dated mid-December. As at December 31, the Ministry of Agriculture already totaled 600,000 poultry shot.
In the field, anger and misunderstanding are expressed. In a common statement, the agricultural unions of the peasant Confederation and the modeF denounce “the cooking failure of ministerial health policy” by specifying: “The claustration, measure-flagship of the government, interprofessions, also pushed by the majority union and The biggest actors in the sector, so did not know how to avoid a fourth crisis in six years. “
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