Bird flu vaccine alone cannot ensure safe movement of poultry, EU food safety body says

7 months ago 38

Avian influenza vaccination cannot completely immunise birds, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) said in a report published on 17 April, as France banked on it to reduce bird culling, ensure the continuation of exports, and reduce the disease’s economic impact.

EFSA recommended monthly testing of dead birds to prove the absence of the disease to safeguard the movement of poultry and related products.

“Vaccination is recommended”, the head of EFSA’s Biological Hazards and Animal Health and Welfare Unit, Frank Verdonck said in a press release, adding,“Nonetheless, there is a need to follow up with a strategic surveillance scheme and implement measures to reduce the risk of virus transmission,”

The report is the second part of a EFSA scientific opinion on the vaccines available in the EU.

In the first part, EFSA had already recommended that vaccination should be considered as a complement and not to replace other biosecurity measures, such as monitoring.

In the latest EFSA overview on the largest avian flu epidemics in the EU, the authority refers to 3.5 million domestic birds dead or culled between December 2023 and March 2024 in high pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) affected poultry farms.

According to European Commission’s data, in 2016-17, more than nine million animals were culled and 12.5 million in 2020-21.

Among the internationally recognized biosecurity measures needed to curb the spread of HPAI there are mass culling and restrictions to movement. This implies costs for the enterprises.

A 2008 World Bank report estimated the economic consequences of the epidemics up to 0.7% of global GDP, 0.4% in Europe and central Asia.

Agri ministers call for a vaccine strategy

In 2022, EU agriculture ministers agreed on a strategy for vaccination, also taking into account restrictions on the poultry trade related to vaccines.

Countries like the UK, the US, and Saudi Arabia, for example, are currently refusing to buy from countries practising vaccination for fear of importing the virus into their territory.

The idea of vaccination has been pushed especially from France, which in october 2023 started up €100 million vaccination programme, counting over 25 million ducks treated on 25 March.

The vaccination is compulsory for farms with more than 250 ducks in an attempt to curb the deaths, the culls, and the restriction to the movement of poultry.

Last January national authorities detected an outbreak in a duck farm that followed the vaccination programme.

It is “known” that vaccination does not completely eliminate the risk of infection but it reduces “viral circulation”, French authorities said.

[Edited by Alice Taylor]