France reports bird flu on farm for first time since January

PARIS (Reuters) - A French farm has had an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza for the first time since January, the agriculture ministry said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The disease, commonly known as bird flu, was detected on a poultry farm in the northwestern region of Brittany on Monday and thought most likely to have spread from wild birds after several cases in nearby coastal areas, the ministry said.

Bird flu can be deadly for poultry and has ravaged farm flocks worldwide in recent years. Health officials are also grappling with transmission beyond birds, including among dairy cows and farm workers in the United States.

France embarked on a mass vaccination campaign for farm ducks last year, which the authorities credited for limiting the spread of bird flu compared with previous years.

The outbreak detected on Monday in Brittany means France loses its international status as being free of bird flu, though the authorities are maintaining their nationwide alert level at its lowest, the ministry said.

The ministry did not specify what strain of bird flu was found on the affected farm, where the entire flock has been slaughtered.

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)