France is attributing a sharp drop in the number of bird flu cases to a successful pilot campaign to vaccinate millions of ducks.
This is the first large-scale vaccination programme tried anywhere in the world, and vaccination has yet to be implemented in any commercial chicken operations.
What’s more, the French government is picking up most of the costs.
Poultry World reports that the campaign will cost an estimated €100 million of which the French state pays 85%.
The French department of agriculture reports that the bird flu epidemic so far this year has been far less severe than in some previous years thanks to the massive campaign to vaccinate ducks, which in previous epidemics showed to be highly susceptible to avian influenza.
Up until the end of February, more than 21.6 million ducks had been vaccinated, which is one-third of the total of 64 million to be treated. Every animal receives 2 vaccinations, the first at 10 days and a second 18 days later.
Two of France’s neighbours, Belgium and Germany, are also seeing lower bird flu infection rates, and attribute the drop at least in part to the success of the French campaign in lessening bird flu there. Bird flu is carried by wild birds, particularly along migration routes.
The French success shows how government money can be put to good use in efforts to reduce the devastation that bird flu has brought to the world’s poultry flocks.
