A case of bird flu has come under observation on a duck farm in southwestern France. It is still not clear yet whether it is the highly contagious form of the virus, the body representing the foie gras and fattened poultry industry CIFOG said on Monday.

If this is confirmed then it would be the first outbreak of the so-called highly pathogenic avian influenza on a farm this year. The disease has been spreading rapidly in Europe, putting the poultry industry on alert after previous outbreaks led to the culling of tens of millions of birds. CIFOG director Marie-Pierre Pe said the latest case was discovered on Friday at a farm of about 6,000 ducks due to be force-fed a technique used to make foie gras - in the town of Benesse-Mariamne, near the city of Biarritz and the Spanish border. The security zone was set up around the farm even before the confirmation, something that was not done in 2016/2017 when a wave of bird flu led to the death and culling of millions of poultry, she said. France has already detected the H5N8 virus on birds sold in three pet stores.

The spread of the virus in Europe cause France to raise its bird flu security alert to “high” in early November, which requires keeping birds indoors or installing protective netting to prevent contact.

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