France Reports Newcastle Disease in Pigeons
FRANCE - An outbreak has been reported of Newcastle disease in a fattening pigeon flock in Brittany in the north-west of the country.The veterinary authority sent an Immediate Notification dated 23 December to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
The outbreak started on 16 December at a farm fattening pigeons at Saint Anne d'Auray in Morbihan, a department of Brittany. Of the flock of 2,500 birds, 700 died and the rest were destroyed.
The source of infection is thought to be wild birds.
The report adds that the birds displayed firstly digestive and then nervous clinical signs with increasing mortality. No movement of animals from or to the farm recorded. A three-kilometre protection zone and a 10-kilometre surveillance zone were set up. Poultry farms in the area are subject to movement restrictions. All poultry were destroyed on 23 December 2010 and cleaning and disinfection operations started on the same day.
The last occurrence of Newcastle disease in France was in 2006.
Further Reading
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