French Foie Gras Makers Fear the Worst as Bird Flu Toll Rises quoting : NBC News

French farm minister Stephane Le Foll said on Tuesday the bird flu crisis, the second in as many years in France, showed the foie gras sector needed to review its organization. Foie gras producer Annie Aribit prepares ducks for Fois Gras in her laboratory in La Bastide Clairence, France, on Dec.12, 2016. PARIS — The bird flu epidemic in southwest France, home to most duck and foie gras producers, has led to more than three million poultry being killed and its rapid expansion is making producers fear the worst for the region's entire flock. The toll was likely to rise as new outbreaks continue to be detected daily, notably in well protected duck and chicken farms, Marie-Pierre Pe, general secretary of foie gras producers group Cifog, told Reuters. Fois gras producer Robin Arribit force-feeds a duck with corn in La Bastide Clairence, France on Dec.8, 2016.




Related: H7N9 Bird Flu Spreads Like Ordinary FluThe National Health and Family Planning Commission has yet to respond to a request from Reuters seeking comment on the recent bird Flu deaths. Related: CDC Issues Bird Flu WarningBut the latest bird Flu data has sparked concerns of a repeat of previous health crises, like the 2002 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). As many as 79 people died from H7N9 bird flu in China last month, the Chinese government said, stoking worries that the spread of the virus this season could be the worst on record. An Iowa-based chicken broiler breeding farm has initially tested positive for the highly pathogenic h5 bird flu. Most of the H7N9 human infections reported this season have been in the south and along the coast.

China January Bird Flu Deaths hit 79, Most Since at Least 2013

An outbreak of H7N9 bird flu in China killed 79 people in January, the most in a single month in at least three years, the country's national health authority said. Local authorities have ordered temporary shutdowns of some poultry markets and ramped up testing. More than 250 cases of H7N9 have been reported to the National Health and Family Planning Commission from 16 provinces and regions. In Guangzhou, China's third-largest city, more than 30 percent of the live poultry markets were recently found to be contaminated with H7N9. January's death toll was the highest for any month since at least November 2013, according to the health commission's website.



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