Paris, December 7 (EFECOM). – The French Government is preparing the decision to adopt the general vaccination of the entire cattle herd against lumpy skin disease, at a time when the spread of this disease is causing some resistance among farmers to the slaughter of all animals on an affected farm.
In statements to the local radio station Ici Besançon broadcast this Sunday, the Minister of Agriculture Annie Genevard stressed that “vaccination is the best preventive measure”.
“At the moment we are fighting in the infected areas. The vaccines are therefore reserved for the areas that suffer from a deficit. But the question of a complete vaccination of the French herd arises and it is legitimate,” said the minister during a visit this Saturday to the Doubs department, where cases have been reported.
A meeting with industry experts is planned for next Tuesday in the so-called livestock parliament, where this topic will be discussed.
Several agricultural unions have advocated for this generalization of vaccine use to curb the spread of lumpy skin disease.
Last Tuesday, in the same Doubs department, 83 cows were slaughtered in the town of Pouilley-Français, despite the protests of around 300 people who had gathered at the farm to support the ranchers who opposed the measure.
The minister cited irregular animal movements as the cause of this outbreak in Poulley-Français: “What is certain is that the disease was introduced with a sick animal” and that this animal came from another outbreak in the Jura department.
He pointed out that the investigation is ongoing and that the situation needs to be fully clarified and that “animal owners need to be fully aware of it.”
The minister justified the measures taken so far with the killing of around 3,000 cattle on farms where cases of the disease were found.
“We have – he stressed – just over 100 outbreaks and 16 million cattle in France and we have sacrificed 0.02% of the herd.”
According to official data from your department, last Friday 108 outbreaks of lumpy skin disease were registered in seven departments: Savoy, Haute-Savoie, Ain, Rhône, Jura, Pyrénées-Orientales and Doubs.
To contain the spread, five regulated zones were set up, one of them on the Franco-Spanish border with Catalonia, after outbreaks were detected there in October.
This area now includes the entire Pyrénées-Orientales department, but also parts of the Aude and Ariège areas.
In these regulated areas, mass vaccination of the entire herd is carried out, regardless of the age of the animals, and the costs are fully borne by the state. In addition, all cattle from the identified outbreaks are slaughtered.
On June 29th, a lumpy dermatosis was detected for the first time in Savoie, and on October 18th an exemption restricting freedom of movement, banning livestock gatherings and suspending exports was introduced, which was lifted on November 5th. EFECOM
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