Avian Influenza Outbreak Leads France to Issue High Risk Alert

Recent Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HAPI) outbreaks in Europe have led France to issue a 'high' alert, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors as of December 5, 2023.

The French government wrote, 'continuing strong dynamic of HPAI virus infection recorded in Europe, while the first contamination of a farm had been detected a few days ago in France, has now led the public authorities to place all of the territories at high-risk levels with of HPAI.'

The French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty launched a vaccination campaign in October 2023 to reduce the spread of HAPI. The mandatory vaccination of domestic ducks applies to all of Metropolitan France (except Corsica Island).

To better inform the public, the Ministry has published 'Ten Things to Remember About HAPI Vaccination' (posted in French) on November 17, 2023.

Avian influenza, known as bird flu, is harmless in cooked food and spreads among various types of birds, mammals, and even to humans.

Furthermore, the World Health Organization report #907 confirmed sporadic influenza A(H5N1) clade 2.3.4.4b virus detections in humans. 

On September 29, 2023, the U.S. government announced that it restricted the import of poultry from France and its European Union trading partners following France's decision to vaccinate meat ducks against HPAI.

Additionally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a Technical Report in 2023 that confirmed the overall risk to human health associated with the ongoing outbreaks of highly pathogenic A(H5N1) viruses remains low.

From an outbreak protection perspective, the CDC confirmed in June 2023 that about 20 million H5N1 and 12 million H7N9 vaccines for humans were available in the U.S. National Strategic Stockpile.

Note: This article was updated on Dec. 7, 2023.