Severe bird flu found in north French wild ducks

A severe strain of H5N8 bird flu that hit several countries in Europe, leading to the culling of thousands of poultry, was detected in wild ducks in Northern France.

“A first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 was confirmed on November 26 in the commune of Marck, Pas-de-Calais, on 20 wild ducks used as callers for waterfowl hunting,” said France’s agriculture ministry in a statement.

Local authorities increased surveillance in the area. News agency Reuters reports the latest outbreak has not affected domestic farms.

France has the largest poultry flock in the EU. France should regain its status as free of highly pathogenic avian flu from this Saturday.

France is recovering from a severe bird flu epidemic in south-west France earlier this year which led to a total halting of duck and geese output in the region and import restrictions from trading partners.

Outbreaks in neighboring countries the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany had prompted the ministry to impose extra precautions at farms and restricted hunting and bird gathering earlier this month.

Dutch authorities destroyed some 190,000 ducks last Saturday at six farms following an avian flu outbreak.