Avian influenza

Avian influenza is a disease caused by a virus called "influenza A". Wild and/or domestic/breeding birds can be contaminated. These viruses are most often transmitted between birds, but from time to time, one of them can infect humans. Thank you, for the time being there is no contagion between humans – and as the virus passes from birds to humans, very few people are infected by H5N8, because there are few people living in a close relationship with the bird life.

Preventative deaths

As with the virus, measures taken against the virus cause concern among breeding birds. In fact, the French Administration is focused on preventing the epidemic and preventing the preventative death of birds. Thus, farmers are obliged to kill all birds within five kilometres of the area where the virus appears. In the case of Ipar Euskal Herria, several farms depend on this precept, after birds infected by the virus have been detected in some farms of Amorotz, Bidaxune and Lejoz. There may be some cases in Bardoze, but the information has not yet been confirmed by the Prefecture. The situation is not improving and the list of localities affected by the decision is increasing week after week. Avian influenza was repeated last December and in recent weeks there have been two million deaths "preventively".

To help overcome the crisis, the department of the Atlantic Pyrenees, which includes Iparralde and Bearn, will distribute half a million euros in prizes. This has been announced by the EU General Council at its meeting at the beginning of the week. The General Council is also committed to providing breeding birds with access to RSA aid, distributed by the French State. In addition, this institution will collaborate with the Social Security of Psychologists, Social Workers and Farmers MSA on the way to avoid incorrections. At the same time, a study of analysis and reflection will be carried out to better understand the disease and to work its way out. But in the meantime, the problem continues, even though these aids help to reduce pain.

Popular Wall

Preventive crimes are not accepted by the farmers of the ELB trade union. "Since the beginning of this crisis, the ELB strongly denounces the decision to die on a large number of healthy cables, a practice that has long demonstrated its limits," he added. Birds of good help will not be sent to the slaughterhouse, and if necessary, building a popular wall as in 2017, they will disobey administrative measures. In short, they will be mobilized on Saturday, January 30, at 14:00 in the market square of Donapaleu to denounce the "massacre".

In 2017, ELB members mobilized rapidly and the union had to pay a fine of €5,000 for mobilizing against preventative killings. ELB President Panpi Sainte-Marie and Cathy Xabalgoiti from the Ühartia de Barkoxe estate were finally sentenced for abusing the ducks breeder. Hundreds of people supported crops.

Kriax

Kriax is a breed of local ducks, and if it were not the political decision of some farmers, we would be missing – productivism leads breeders to other races. In this avian flu crisis, kriax is also questioned for the future of the breed. The virus has appeared in Bidaxune, the only farm that reared kriaxera duck babies, and supplies all the kriaxera farms in the Basque Country. The danger of extinction of this breed of ducks is high and real.

Breeders do not support the preventative killings of Kriaxe, which were infected just in the plague of 2017, as they managed to overcome the virus. According to the OECD, although the virus has tested positive, ducks "are not sick" and have developed antibodies. Believe or not believe, the 2017 experiences are there as proof. Thus, the experimentation has been in place, with the support of the Chamber of Cultivation of the Atlantic Pyrenees, the ELB trade union and the Commonwealth of Iparralde. Following this new initiative, "the animals will be held in a period of fifteen days to check the resistance to the virus that the local kriax has".As for the death of the ducks, the prefecture has at the moment granted an exception to the breed of kriaxera.

Industrial cultivation

The problem is that, just like with COVID-19, if we limit the look at the virus and don't look at the origin of the epidemic, the problem will come back again in the future. In 2017 the H5N8 plague was already brutal and it seems that this 2021 will also be as tough as it was then. Since 2017, producers have been forced to adopt increasingly stringent health measures to limit contacts between crops and poultry bases. However, they have been unable to prevent the development of a new epidemic. The real problem, more and more experts say that this is a problem in the agricultural model, including the ELB and the Confederation Paysanne. Industrial farms are "viral bombs."

Bird education is becoming more intensive and industrial, and the fact is that tanks and animal transport allow and facilitate the spread of the virus. Furthermore, since all genetic selections are made in favour of productivity, they are in the end much more vulnerable to environmental attacks, including viruses.

Finally, in order to subsequently limit the spread of viruses such as H5N8, real reflection should be carried out on the cultivation sector, favouring courageous measures in favour of quality grass-roots agriculture.