France detects bird flu outbreaks in south west

Paris: France has detected the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus at two poultry farms in the southwest Dordogne region, the agriculture ministry said on Monday, a week after finding the first case in eight years in a back yard in the same area.

The ministry`s health services were proceeding with a cull of all the animals in the affected farms, it said in a statement, without giving more details. 

The ministry noted bird flu was not transmittable to humans by eating meat, eggs, foie gras or other food products.

The outbreak of H5N1 reported last week in France, the European Union`s biggest agricultural producer, was the first in the European Union since outbreaks in Bulgaria and Romania in March.