France hails bird flu vaccination as poultry let back outdoors

PARIS (Reuters) -France said on Wednesday its poultry flocks will be allowed outdoors again after a lull in bird flu infections that the government attributed to a vaccination programme.

France in 2023 became the world's first large poultry exporter to launch a nationwide vaccine campaign against highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, as it sought to curb the virus that has ravaged poultry flocks worldwide and spread to other species including humans.

The country requires vaccination of farm ducks, which are particularly vulnerable to bird flu.

"France's vaccination policy has paid off," Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard told lawmakers. "France has regained its status as a (bird flu) free country, the risk level is now moderate and ducks will be able to go outside again."

The vaccination programme has been welcomed by the French poultry industry as it has helped production recover, despite trade restrictions imposed on France by some importing countries.

The United States is considering turning to vaccination as it grapples with a bird flu crisis that has sent egg prices soaring and seen transmission to dairy cows and farm workers.

Britain, meanwhile, this week announced that bird flu had been detected in a sheep, the first such reported case in the world.

(Reporting by Bertrand Boucey and Gus Trompiz; Editing by Angus MacSwan)