Bird flu fears force France to slaughter all ducks in major poultry producing region

‘Avian influenza, or bird flu as its commonly known, is a viral infection that was restricted to birds, particularly chickens, until 1997, when the first human patients were diagnosed in Hong Kong with the H5N1 strain.
Now the agriculture ministry in France has announced an outbreak of a different strain of bird flu, the H5N8 strain, in a poultry-producing region of the country, and has ordered that all 600,000 remaining ducks be slaughtered immediately. More than 300 farms have been affected by the latest outbreak, most in the foie gras-producing region of Landes.
A previous culling attempt failed to stop the spread of the disease, and Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll explained on France Bleu Radio that this was because the sickness is spreading at a faster than expected rate. He emphasized the need for measures to ensure more secure transportation of poultry and the need to limit their mobility.’
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