A severe strain of H5N8 bird flu that has hit several countries in Europe leading to the culling of thousands of poultry was detected in wild ducks in Northern France, the farm ministry said, reports Reuters.
"A first case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 was confirmed on Nov. 26 in the commune of Marck (Pas-de-Calais), on 20 wild ducks used as callers for waterfowl hunting," it said in a statement.
Local authorities increased surveillance in the area, the ministry said.
It said that the latest outbreak did not affect domestic farms and that provided no new case was found it should regain its international status of free of highly pathogenic avian flu on Dec. 3.
France, which has the largest poultry flock in the EU, is still recovering from a severe bird flu epidemic in southwestern France earlier this year which lead to a total halting of duck and geese output in the region and import restrictions from trading partners.
Outbreaks in neighboring countries including the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany had prompted the ministry to impose additional precautions at farms and restricted hunting and bird gathering earlier this month.
It requested that poultry farmers located in humid regions, where the risk of transmission is higher, keep poultry flocks indoors or apply safety nets preventing contact with wild birds.