The French government assures us, this Saturday, that the H5N8 avian influenza virus present on poultry in France does not present, to date, "no risk of transmission to humans".
Comparisons are underway with the virus that has infected people in Russia.
In a press release, the Ministry of Agriculture assures us that to date, out of 130 viral sequences, "none of the analyzes carried out by ANSES has shown any properties giving rise to fear of a risk of transmission to humans of the virus of avian influenza present in poultry in France ”.
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The ministry adds that the French services seek to compare the Russian virus with those present in France: "The ANSES teams are studying the information with the greatest attention, in particular the sequencing of the virus detected in infected people and their comparison with viruses circulating in poultry in France ”.
He specifies that "the results of the comparison of the sequences of the Russian virus and the viruses circulating in our territory will be communicated as soon as possible".
466 outbreaks detected since December
The French Public Health agency and the National Reference Center for respiratory viruses (including influenza), an observatory which centralizes information at the national level, "were also contacted to jointly conduct this risk analysis," said the press release.
The avian influenza epizootic, which has raged in France and in particular in the South-West, since December 2020 with 466 outbreaks detected to date, “has experienced a marked slowdown” for several weeks, thanks to the preventive slaughter of more than three million poultry, jointly say the ministries.
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This strategy "will continue to be applied to any new suspicion in the South West to curb as quickly as possible any risk of dissemination of the virus", they warn.
