France plans to slaughter 600,000 birds in an effort to prevent the spread of bird flu that infects ducks in a part of the country, health officials said Tuesday.
About 200,000 poultry have already been slaughtered, a farm ministry official said in an attempt to contain the H5N8 virus, which is not known to be transmissible to humans.
As of January 1, France had confirmed 61 outbreaks of bird flu. Forty-eight of them were in the southwestern Landes region, according to the agriculture ministry.
Slaughter includes the preventive killing of birds in the areas surrounding the outbreak to limit the transition to farm herds.
Duck farming in the Landes is used to supply the foie gras industry.
The health ministry said it appears other parts of France have the virus under control.
With publishing cables