The French government has said it will kill more than a million birds in the coming weeks to combat the Avon flu epidemic on poultry farms.
According to the French news agency AFP, all the ducks, chickens and turkeys in the 226 municipalities of southwestern France, which number more than 1.3 million, will be destroyed.The French Ministry of Agriculture said on Thursday that it would take "three weeks" to clear the area.
Authorities hope that after eradicating the birds from the infected areas, they will be able to reduce the intensity of the epidemic and prevent it from reaching other poultry areas.
The Avon flu epidemic, which broke out in late November last year, has already killed more than a million birds.
Farmers in the region were also compensated for killing birds.
The ministry plans to use slaughterhouses to speed up the process and enlist the help of a large number of workers, including veterinary school students.
Many European countries are now battling a highly contagious H5N1 virus a year after dealing with a similar virus.
Since 2015, there have been four bird flu outbreaks in France, particularly in the southwest. As many as 3.5 million birds were killed last winter.
