France orders poultry indoors as bird flu spreads in Europe

PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) - France has raised its bird flu alert level to 'high' from 'moderate', requiring farms nationwide to keep poultry indoors as Europe faces a swift seasonal resurgence of the disease.

The spread of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has raised concerns among governments and the poultry industry after it killed or led to the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry in recent years, disrupting supply, fuelling higher food prices and raising the risk of a new pandemic.

"Detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza are increasing in Europe among migratory birds, particularly in Spain and Germany, but also in France," the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

"These cases confirm a high rate of infection among wild birds using the southbound migration corridors, which are active from September to December," it added.

The order to keep poultry inside follows a similar move in the Netherlands last week.

Since October 10, four bird flu outbreaks have been confirmed on commercial poultry farms and three outbreaks in backyard flocks, all located in the Atlantic migration corridor, the ministry said.

A first case had been detected at a pheasant and partridge breeding farm in northern France.

The change in risk status will take effect on Wednesday, earlier than in previous years. Last year, the alert was raised in November, and in December the year before.

France is starting its third annual vaccination campaign against bird flu, covering farm ducks. The government has credited the policy with curbing the disease.