French bird flu outbreak spreads with four new cases

PARIS (Reuters) - France has discovered four more cases of highly pathogenic bird flu in the southwest of the country, including one in the Haute-Vienne region that was previously unaffected, the farm ministry said on Wednesday.

France has now reported 10 outbreaks of avian influenza since a case last month in Dordogne that marked the first known occurrence of the virus in eight years in the European Union's biggest agricultural producer.

In the latest cases, the H5N1 strain of the virus was detected at a poultry farm in Haute-Vienne, while bird flu was also found at three more farms in Dordogne, mostly involving ducks, the ministry said in a statement.

Previous reported cases have also included two in the Landes region.

There is no evidence that bird flu can be transmitted to humans via food, but France is facing restrictions from trading partners on products as well as live poultry animals.

Eight countries have restricted imports of French poultry birds and products due to the outbreak, including Japan which is France's biggest export market for foie gras.

The wave of bird flu is affecting France's major foie gras producing region, coming just before demand peaks over the year-end holiday season.

Certain strains of bird flu such as H5N1 have infected and in some cases killed people in direct contact with sick animals, notably in Asia, but the French authorities have said the H5N1 detected appeared to be unlike an the strain known in Asia.

France has also detected H5N2 and H5N9 strains among the recent cases.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Gus Trompiz, editing by David Evans)