The French government has raised the level of risk associated with bird flu "to its maximum" due to "several outbreaks in breeding" and the presence of the virus in migratory birds flying over the country.
27 European countries have detected the virus since August 1, according to the latest bulletin from the French Animal Health Epidemiological Surveillance Platform (ESA), which monitors the infection of farm animals and wild animals in Europe. Hungary, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Denmark and Italy have reported the most cases of the virus.
According to a decree published in the Official Gazette and effective immediately, the level of risk in France has been raised from "moderate" to "high".
In recent years, bird flu has led to the destruction of hundreds of millions of birds worldwide. It usually appears in autumn and winter, and in the last few weeks it has spread to many European countries, including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Last week, France said it had discovered the season's first outbreak of bird flu at a farm in Brittany, in the northwest of the country.
The "high" risk level, which was previously set at "moderate", suggests that all poultry should be kept inside farms and that additional security measures should be taken to avoid the spread of the disease.
Although avian influenza is harmless in food, its spread is of concern to governments and the poultry industry because of the destruction it can cause to flocks, the possibility of trade restrictions and the risk of transmission to humans. /BGNES
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