EGG-NEWS is indebted to Dr. Nati Elkin, publisher of Poultry Med, for a report on the success of the vaccination campaign against HPAI in the foie gras industry in France.  Last year, 35 million ducks received two doses of an inactivated vaccine against H5 avian influenza.  In addition, 1.5 million ducks received three doses before July 2024 in high-risk areas.  Inactivated vaccine was administered at 10 and 28 days with a third dose at 56 days. During May 2024 an mRNA vaccine was included in the vaccination protocol.

The effectiveness of the vaccine campaign was determined by comparing the expected value of losses based on records of outbreaks in recent years against the the incidence rate among the vaccinated flocks.  The study determined a relative reduction of 95.9 percent attributed to the vaccination program.

The result confirms the World Organization of Animal Health endorsement of vaccination as an adjunct to biosecurity in preventing avian influenza in high-risk regions.

With respect to foie gras production, ducks are allowed outside access before the intensive period of force-feeding effectively negating biosecurity.  The obvious benefit of vaccination should be recognized since there was no effective biosecurity. 

It would be instructive for USDA-APHIS to introduce protective immunization using currently available commercial vaccines in high-risk areas for egg producing and turkey grow-out flocks.  We do not have to evaluate the commercial vaccines that are produced by reputable manufacturers and are approved by international and national agencies.  We do not have to develop a new vaccine since products are available off-the-shelf.  We will have to develop epidemiologically valid protocols to evaluate the benefit of vaccines in anticipation of the fall migration of waterfowl with the attendant probability of a resurgence in HPAI.