According to reports to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), a total of 489 outbreaks of HPAI occurred in the E.U. during the first two months of 2022 among seventeen nations. France reported 335 outbreaks, Hungary 29, Poland 24, Germany and Italy 19 each and Spain and the Netherlands 18. All cases were attributed to H5N1 in commercial flocks.

Most of the outbreaks in France have occurred in coastal Departments including Vendee and among inland Departments along the Loire River. Eleven outbreaks were reported in Loirie-Atlantique requiring the culling of 500,000 birds.

The Occitanie region in the south of France has been impacted again in 2022 with migratory birds introducing and disseminating virus. Authorities in France have depleted 2.9 million commercial poultry including ducks, geese, guinea fowl and chickens. Authorities have imposed a ban on hatcheries distributing chicks within designated areas where outbreaks have occurred and preemptive slaughter of otherwise healthy birds is in progress. Following previous campaigns intensive control efforts have had little effect on reducing the incidence rate.

The outbreaks have once again caused serious losses in the foie gras industry where waterfowl are held on pasture until the intensive force-feeding period is carried out over the terminal three weeks in barns.

Given the level of husbandry and housing systems in the affected regions in France, the Nation cannot continue to deplete flocks each year in an attempt to eradicate infection that is introduced annually by migratory waterfowl, If France wishes to maintain a foie gras industry using pasture, vaccination appears to be the only option providing this is acceptable to importing countries.