#11,949
France, which has been beleaguered by more than 80 outbreaks of HPAI and LPAI bird flu - all of European lineage - over the past 12 months, has - until today - avoided the rapidly spreading HPAI H5N8 virus.
On November 17th, with the virus very near their border with Switzerland, the French MOA Issued A Precautionary H5N8 Alert.
Today, France's MOA posted the following announcement on their avian flu page.
Location to 26 November 2016: a detected event.
On November 26, a first case H5N8 was confirmed in the municipality of Marck (Pas de Calais) on 20 wild ducks used as decoys for hunting waterfowl. Management measures were immediately implemented
Marck (Pas de Calais) is very close to Dunkirk, and only about 20 miles across the English Channel to the UK.
Meanwhile, the FAO reports that Romania has detected the H5N8 virus in a dead swan.
