France says 10 million birds culled in massive flu outbreak

Some 10 million ducks, chickens and other poultry have been culled in France since November in one of the most widespread outbreaks of bird flu in years, the agriculture ministry said on Wednesday.
The country has been hit by several epidemics since 2015, but they have mainly been contained to the southwest where ducks are bred for the lucrative foie gras liver pate industry.
But this winter has seen the virus spread farther north along the western Atlantic coast to the Pays de la Loire region, spreading rapidly among farms in the Vendee, Loire-Atlantique and Maine-et-Loire departments since late February.
Nearly 1,000 sites have reported cases, including at least 450 in the Vendee, considered strategic by the ministry because it is home to many farms that raise chickens and other birds exclusively for breeding.

However, the situation appears to be “stabilising” in the southwest, the ministry said.
Quarantine measures have been taken against the virus and farmers are compensated by the government for losses that can run into the millions of euros.
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