France has launched a tender today to purchase 80 million doses of bird flu vaccines as it prepares to start its vaccination program in the fall, making it the first EU member to initiate such a program.
A spokesperson for the French Ministry of Agriculture revealed that the pre-order, which will be confirmed if the final test results of the vaccinations are positive, will be for the vaccination of ducks only.
This announcement follows the earlier endorsement by the French National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety of the government's plan to vaccinate millions of domestic birds against bird flu, with the agency presenting three scenarios for the campaign.
The agency warned about the virus's ability to spread between species, which poses a potential risk to human health. The government tends to partially follow the agency's recommendations.
France has commissioned two companies, the French veterinary health company "Ceva" and the German company "Boehringer Ingelheim," to develop bird flu vaccines for ducks. Ceva stated that preliminary results are "very promising," particularly in significantly reducing the excretions of infected birds.
France was the most affected EU country last year, culling more than 20 million birds, and stated last December that it aimed to start vaccinations this fall.
Bird flu has led to the deaths of hundreds of millions of birds worldwide, but governments have been hesitant to implement vaccination programs, primarily due to the potential trade restrictions these programs might entail.
Ducks are the most susceptible birds to the virus and remain asymptomatic for several days, increasing the risk of transmission. The bird flu virus spreads through exposure to excretions from infected migratory birds or through direct contact with contaminated feed, clothing, and equipment, or via airborne transmission.
