The French farm ministry said on Tuesday that highly pathogenic H5N8 bird flu had been found on a duck farm in the southwest of the country, confirming France's first farm outbreak of the virus this year.
Bird flu 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.
A security zone was set up around the farm on Dec. 7, implying extra monitoring, a ban on the move of poultry and additional sanitary measures, the ministry said, adding that all the ducks on the farm were culled.