France tightens restrictions to avoid bird flu contamination

France, Europe’s largest poultry producer, imposed additional precautions at farms and restricted hunting and bird gathering on Thursday after a severe strain of bird flu virus was found in several neighboring countries in the past few weeks. No case of H5N8 avian influenza, more commonly called bird flu, has been found in France so far but the virus was found in eight European countries, including Switzerland and Germany, mainly in wild birds but also at farms. Poultry farmers located in these “high risk” zones will have to keep poultry flocks indoors or apply safety nets preventing contact with wild birds, it said.
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