Overview
- Agriculture Minister Annie Genevard called total‑herd vaccination against contagious bovine dermatopathy a legitimate option but warned it would halt exports by ending France’s disease‑free designation.
- She has convened the Parlement de l’élevage for Tuesday to choose an eradication strategy after weeks of tensions over culling and targeted vaccination.
- Authorities count a little over 100 outbreaks and about 3,000 cattle culled to date; the virus spreads via biting insects and is not transmissible to humans.
- Anger over whole‑herd culling escalated in Pouilley‑Français, where roughly 300 farmers confronted police before 83 cows from an infected dairy herd were slaughtered.
- France lacks domestic vaccine production and would need large imports, reportedly from South Africa, adding cost and delay; Coordination Rurale urges universal vaccination, the Confédération paysanne condemns mass culling, a senior veterinarian prioritizes movement controls, and probes into suspected illicit animal transports continue.