The bird flu risk, which had been reduced to “negligible” at the end of April 2024, will be raised to “moderate” from Wednesday, as indicated in the Journal officiel on October 15. Prior to this period, France had maintained a “high” risk level since early December 2023

This decision comes in response to a dynamic of infection observed in migratory wildlife in neighboring countries, and aims to reinforce surveillance and prevention measures on the territory. According to the Journal officiel, migratory birds could introduce the virus to mainland France, which justifies a reassessment of the risk.

The epizootic risk for poultry and captive birds is classified in three levels: “negligible”, “moderate” and “high”. France has experienced repeated episodes of bird flu since 2015, with major economic impacts, leading to the slaughter of millions of poultry and losses running into billions of euros. To break this spiral, vaccination was made compulsory at the end of 2023 in farms with more than 250 ducks (excluding breeders), and the 2024-2025 vaccination campaign began on October 1 in France.