Avian influenza returns to France

After an absence of around three months, highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been identified in two French poultry flocks. Both are in the southwestern portion of the country, and were reported to have been discovered last week by the Ministry of Agriculture to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). During routine surveillance, samples from a flock of 1,875 domestic ducks at Vaureilles in the region of Aveyron tested positive for the H5N2 variant of the virus, and were subsequently euthanized. The birds had shown no clinical signs of the disease. According to the French agriculture ministry, the flock comprised 2,080 6-week-old ducks that were ready for gavage, and 2,917 ducklings 2 weeks of age.  Read More