Despite The Risk Of Trade Backlash, France Initiates Bird Flu Vaccination Campaign

Despite the risk of trade backlash, France initiated a bird flu vaccination campaign.

France is becoming the first European Union Country with a vaccination attempt against bird flu in order to avoid a mass spread of the virus among birds.

France is one of the countries badly affected by the recent outbreak of avian influenza commonly called bird flu, the spread is unprecedented, and the country has reinforced sanitary measures to put a stop to the spread of the flu on duck farms in the West.

France Launches Bird Flu Vaccination Despite Trade Risk

The disease has killed hundreds of millions of birds, thereby disrupting the trade of poultry meat and eggs, this prompted some countries like France to opt for the bird Vaccination option amid the possible negative economic impact of such a measure.

Recently France launched a tender to secure 80 million doses to be ready to start a vaccination program, it was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture that vaccination will be made compulsory for a farm with over 250 birds and whose products are meant to be sold in the form of a meat or foie gras.

Meanwhile, the United States has triggered restrictions on import of French poultry from Oct 1, citing flu-related risk.

On Friday, the United States Department of Agriculture said it will be impossible and difficult to determine if the virus is in a flock, as vaccinated birds will not show any signs of the flu. 

Other countries such as Japan are Keen on taking the same preventive measures to contain the indirect spread of the flu in their country. Despite the intensive talk, Japan seems to be indifferent to accepting French poultry after vaccination.

Ducks accounted for only 8% of total French poultry output in 2022, hence the bird flu vaccination program will initially be limited to ducks in France, as ducks are the most vulnerable to the virus.

More governments have been considering bird vaccination as the best measure to curtail the spread of the virus to farms, and as a means to put an end to the preventive slaughter of animals, but trade barriers have always been the first option of their intended decision.

France took the lead to become the first European Union country to try out bird vaccination while fashioning ways for trade policy renegotiation on poultry businesses.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture in France, the palpable fear is that the virus could mutate to a human variant which could be transmissible to humans, and the second is the ravaging effect of the flu on the flocks.

It is also in good measure for other countries who are in a business partnership with France on poultry products to review the transmissible effect of vaccinated birds, and its possible effect on their populace. 

Read More: Positive Flu Vaccine Updates For The Upcoming Season – American Council On Science And Health

Can Humans Get Bird Flu?

Bird flu also known as avian virus refers to a disease caused by infection with avian (bird) influenza (flu) type A viruses. This virus naturally spreads among birds across the globe, it can infect domestic poultry and other birds.

Bird flu naturally hardly infects humans, but on rare occasions, human infection with bird flu has occurred with those who are in close contact with the infected birds.

Infected birds shed bird flu viruses through their saliva, mucus, or feces, when this virus with people who are in close contact with the infected birds get to the eyes, nose, or mouth, there could be a serious infection.

However infection from a person who is infected to close contact has not been recorded, in situations when such happens, it can only spread to a few people.

But the fact that the virus could easily spread from an infected person to close contact, it is therefore imperative to monitor the spread of the infection from birds to humans and from an infected person to close contact.

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