France has announced that it will provide economic aid through a compensation scheme for poultry farmers impacted by restrictions related to avian influenza (bird flu).
A prolonged nationwide outbreak of bird flu has been occurring in France for the last several months.
Over the 2025-2026 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) season in France, some 140 individual outbreaks have been detected.
As a result, restricted and surveillance zones, were the movement of poultry or the establishment of new poultry flocks were not permitted, were put in place in several areas around France.
The economic aid was announced this week by French agriculture minister Annie Genevard.
The application window will open by the beginning of April, the French ministry said.
The compensation scheme will apply to farmers located within restricted areas who were impacted due to restrictions on their operations.
According to the ministry, farmer losses from prolonged restrictions can be compensated up to 90%.
The minister said (in a statement translated from French) that, without waiting for the end of the outbreak, it is essential to provide economic support to the farmers concerned by the health control measures put in place.
Eligible farmers must have been located within restricted zones during the disease outbreak season, and must have suffered economic losses.
Farmers will be able to submit a request for payment by the beginning of April.
Bird flu
Closer to home, Northern Ireland has been declared free from highly pathogenic avian influenza.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) approved and published a UK self-declaration of the recovery of freedom from bird flu infection in poultry for the zone of Northern Ireland.
The declaration was approved following the last remaining surveillance zone being lifted in Northern Ireland on January 4, which was originally put in place as a result of a bird flu outbreak on a commercial poultry premises in Co. Cavan.
That followed on from a separate announcement that the Republic of Ireland is also free from HPAI, with Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon saying that the WOAH has published Ireland’s self-declaration of freedom from the disease.
