France puts country on high alert regarding bird flu

France raised the risk level of bird flu to high from moderate after the detection of new cases of the disease, the farm ministry said on Tuesday, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors to stem the spread of the highly contagious virus.

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions birds worldwide in recent years. It usually strikes during autumn and winter and has been spreading in many European countries in the past weeks, including Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium.

France had said last week that it had detected a first bird flu outbreak on a farm this season in Brittany, in the northwest of the country.

The high risk level, which was previously set at moderate, implies that all poultry should be kept inside on farms and additional security measures taken to avoid a spread of the disease.

Although the bird flu is harmless in food, its spread is a concern for governments and the poultry industry due to the devastation it can cause to flocks, the possibility of trade restrictions and a risk of human transmission.

Reuters