France has confirmed its aim to launch a vaccine programis against bird flu in the fall after the results of a series of duck vaccination tests showed “satisfactory effectiveness”, the agriculture ministry said, reports Reuters.
A severe strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza, commonly referred to as bird flu, has devastated the world’s poultry production, leading to the killing of over 200 million birds in the last 18 months.
France is the worst-hit country in the European Union and has faced a strong resurgence of outbreaks since the start of this month in the south-west of the country, mainly among ducks.
The country launched a pre-order of 80 million vaccines last monthwhich had to be confirmed based on final tests carried out by the French health safety agency ANSES.
“These favorable results provided sufficient guarantees to start a vaccination campaign as early as autumn 2023,” the Ministry of Agriculture wrote on its website.
France awarded two companies, France’s Ceva Animal Health and Germany’s Boehringher Ingelheim to develop bird flu vaccines for ducks.
Several other EU countries are conducting tests, including the Netherlands on laying hens and Italy on turkeys.
The first results in the Netherlands showed that the tested vaccines were effective.
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Warning from the authorities
Tags: France vaccinates bird flu
