Document type: Press release of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
Author: French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty
Preview: Faced with the worsening health situation regarding avian influenza, the French Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty wishes to strengthen the French protection system. An action plan to implement poultry vaccination has been put in place. Designed with input from all stakeholders (local and national government, health agencies, inter-professional organizations, etc.), it is intended to define and develop a vaccination strategy that complements biosecurity measures. In addition, measures to safeguard breeding stock for the duck and goose foie gras industry are being put in place.
Vaccination provides one lever that can be combined with others to enable adaptation to the virus. Its implementation constitutes part of a wider rethink intended to improve the resilience of the poultry industry.
France, like many other European countries, has experienced several major avian influenza emergencies in recent years. That of 2021-2022 was particularly severe and led to the slaughter of more than 21 million animals in France. Following a brief period of respite for farms in the summer, a new wave of infections began in October, with a marked acceleration in recent weeks. As of December 20, 217 outbreaks have been confirmed on farms since August 1.
This situation makes it necessary to expand preventive measures to include permission to vaccinate as a complementary prevention and control tool. On May 24, 2022, under the impetus provided by the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the 27 EU Agriculture Ministers approved conclusions calling on the Commission and the Member States to intensify their efforts to develop vaccination strategies for the prevention and control of HPAI.
With a view to this end, France and several European countries (the Netherlands, Hungary, Italy) have initiated vaccination trials. The experimental work launched in France last May in four departements of the South West concerns two vaccines whose effectiveness is being tested on ducks. The final results will be available in France and in the other countries where testing is in progress in the first quarter of 2023.
In order to ensure that all the conditions needed to develop a national vaccine strategy in France are met, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty is launching an operational action plan. This plan will allow, in the course of the next few months:
- to assess the efficacy of vaccines on the various poultry and palmiped species, taking into account the results of the experiments in progress in France and in the other EU countries;
- to ensure that pharmaceutical companies have sufficient capacity to produce vaccines and obtain authorizations for their use;
- to evaluate different vaccination scenarios from an economic and scientific point of view in order to approve a vaccination strategy;
- approve a vaccine strategy and then set out the technical and economic conditions for its implementation by means of an operational vaccination plan;
- to carry out, throughout this action plan, a programme of eduation, information and communication directed towards the French, European and international population and, in particular, our commercial partners, to provide them with full health protection guarantees.
A steering committee composed of the relevant government bodies and public institutions (Anses, ANMV, ENVT) and the poultry sector's inter-professional groups, and chaired by the Direction générale de l'alimentation (DGAL), will meet for the first time at the beginning of January 2023. Regular updates on the progress of this plan will be provided to the professional agricultural organizations meeting as part of the Animal Health CNOPSAV*.
This vaccination strategy, which will begin in Autumnn 2023 if all the conditions are met, will complement the prevention measures already in effect in mainland France (keeping animals indoors, self-monitoring, preventive slaughter, etc.), which must continue to be respected. In addition, measures to safeguard genetic stocks for the foie gras sector will be implemented in the Pays de Loire region in order to preserve its future production and genetic heritage.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, along with its regional and departmental services, is fully committed to working alongside professionals in the fight against avian influenza. The Ministry calls on all those involved to respect stringently the prevention and control measures in force.
*CNOPSAV: Conseil national d'orientation de la politique sanitaire animale et végétale
Press release leading to articles in:
- Le Monde on December 22, 2022: Grippe aviaire : après l’abattage de millions de volailles, la France veut vacciner à l’automne 2023
- Le Monde on December 23, 2022 : Le gouvernement repousse l’échéance de la vaccination contre la grippe aviaire à l’automne 2023
- Web-agri on 27/12/2022 : Les volaillers français plaident pour une vaccination au niveau européen
