French poultry producers plan to delay rearing new birds due to bird flu

PARIS (Reuters) - French poultry producers plan to delay new duck and geese rearing until the end of June to contain a bird flu virus outbreak which has spread in the southwest of the country, the farm ministry said.

The measure was discussed at a meeting between the ministry and sector representatives.

The highly pathogenic virus was found this week at a farm located outside a broad restriction zone set up last month to stop the spread of the disease that led a growing number of countries to ban French poultry products.

"This plan will allow the re-establishment of healthy ducklings, in sanitised farms, by the end of the first half. The production will be able to take to ensure, in good conditions, production for the year-end celebrations," the ministry said in a statement.

Bird flu cannot be transmitted to humans through food. Some viruses have infected humans, but initial results showed that the strains found in France posed no risk of being caught by humans, the farm minister has said.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; editing by Adrian Croft)