France plans to slaughter 600,000 birds in an effort to prevent the spread of bird flu that infects particulate matter in part of the country, health officials said on Tuesday.
Nearly 200,000 poultry birds have already been culled, a farm ministry official said in an attempt to contain the H5N8 virus, which is not known to be transmitted to humans.
As of January 1, France has confirmed 61 outbreaks of bird flu. Forty-eight of them were, according to the ministry of farming in the southwestern Landes region.
The outbreak includes the preventative death of birds in areas around the outbreak to limit the transition to farm herds.
Unit breeding in the Landes is used to supply the foie gras industry.
The Ministry of Health said it appeared other parts of France had the virus under control.
With Post threads