Bird flu vaccine drive sparks US ban on French poultry imports

France has started vaccinating ducks against bird flu in a bid to stem the virus that killed millions of birds around the world, a move that has prompted the United States to impose trade restrictions on French poultry imports.

A duck is vaccinated with the H5N2 vaccine in a poultry farm in Buanes, southwestern France. REUTERS / Regis Duvignau

France has been among the countries worst affected by an unprecedented global spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza – commonly known as bird flu – that has disrupted supply of poultry meat and eggs and sent prices rocketing in many parts of the globe in the past years.

The ravages caused to its flocks and fear that the virus could mutate into one transmissible to humans has prompted the French government to launch a mandatory vaccination campaign, making it the first poultry exporting country to do so.

The first shots were given this Monday morning to ducks on a farm in the Landes, a region in southwestern France, in the presence of French Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau.

"It's a moment of optimism, we have the feeling of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel," Fesneau told reporters.

• France culls more than 200,000 ducks in order to stave off bird flu

In total, over 60 million ducks will have to be vaccinated over a year for a total cost of €96 million, of which 85 percent will be financed by the state, duck and fois gras makers group CIFOG said in a statement welcoming the move.

"This vaccination plan ... is a world first: its goal is to protect all farmed birds and should put an end to the preventive slaughter of animals, which no one wants to live with anymore," it said.

En décembre dernier j’annonçais le lancement de la campagne de vaccination contre l’Influenza aviaire avec un objectif de démarrage en octobre.

L’engagement est aujourd’hui est tenu ! ✅🎯

Je suis fier d’annoncer dans les Landes et le Gers que la France sera le premier pays… pic.twitter.com/3hJaGUv4Ba

— Marc Fesneau (@MFesneau) October 2, 2023

Trade barriers

More and more governments have been looking at vaccination as a way to contain the highly contagious bird flu.

However, trade barriers such vaccination can prompt have made large poultry exporters reluctant to inoculate their birds.

The United States triggered restrictions on imports of French poultry beginning 1 October citing a risk of introducing the virus into the country.

• French duck farmers shake the flu, new foie gras on the way

Vaccinated birds may not show signs of infection, meaning it is impossible to determine whether the virus is in a flock, the US Department of Agriculture said on Friday.

Despite intensive talks, Japan was also still reluctant to accept French poultry after vaccination, Fesneau said.

Bird flu vaccination in France is initially limited to ducks, which are the most vulnerable to the virus and accounted for only 8 percent of total French poultry production in 2022.

(with wires)