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Bird flu: French vaccination strategy inspires abroad
Paris (AFP) –
Faced with bird flu, France has decided to make vaccination of duck farms mandatory from 2023, despite the commercial risks. But the strategy is paying off and is now inspiring people abroad.
Published on:24/02/2025 - 17:51
The two years preceding vaccination were tragic: 1,800 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) detected and 32 million poultry slaughtered in France. Since then, it has been a breath of fresh air: only around thirty outbreaks in two seasons and a poultry sector that is returning to its pre-crisis production.
"It was a courageous decision" which paid off because "our studies showed that 700 outbreaks were avoided thanks to vaccination", co-financed by the government, explained Muriel Vayssier-Taussat, head of the animal health department of the National Institute for Agronomic and Environmental Research (INRAE), during the 61st Paris Agricultural Show.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the epizootic is decimating poultry by the tens of millions, causing the price of eggs to explode, to the point that this sector, previously reluctant to vaccinate, has changed its position, citing the French example.
But chicken producers in the country, the world's second-largest exporter, are holding back, saying some may close their borders to American poultry over fears that vaccination will mask the presence of the virus.
On the first day of vaccination in France, the United States and Canada had imposed an embargo on French poultry products, before lifting it in January, convinced by France "of the safety of vaccination", according to the ministry.
The French exception
In the United Kingdom, where around thirty outbreaks have been detected, several agricultural organisations have called on the government to lift the ban on poultry vaccination.
The European Union authorises it but only France has generalised it and only for ducks, the source of many of the contaminations.
In January, the French health authorities - human and animal - and all livestock sectors called for better anticipation on a European scale, since the migration of wild birds, which spread the virus, does not respect borders.
Avian influenza A (H5N1) appeared in 1996 in China, which communicates little on its epizootic monitoring, specifies INRAE. The country, like others in Asia, has been vaccinating for years but hardly exports, largely consuming its production.
Since 2020, the number of outbreaks has jumped worldwide, among birds and mammals, and in areas previously unaffected, such as Antarctica.
In the United States, it has been attacking cattle farms for almost a year, with cases of transmission to humans. A first death was recorded there and nearly 70 people were contaminated, a figure that could be underestimated due to limited screening.
"Hallucinated"
"The virus mutates very quickly and has a broad spectrum of host species," explains Muriel Vayssier-Taussat. Its adaptation to the mammary gland of cattle was "a surprise" since it usually affects the respiratory tract.
Researchers from INRAE and the University of Quebec have developed a new vaccine formulation against different strains of the virus. Tests on chickens have shown total protection against infection but also against transmission of the virus.
This "universal" vaccine candidate has been patented and negotiations are underway with manufacturers to carry out trials on other animal species and launch production, with particular interest from North America, notes Muriel Vayssier-Taussat.
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https://www.france24.com/fr/info-en...de-vaccination-française-inspire-à-l-étranger
