France, the European Union's biggest agricultural producer, reported its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in eight years after detecting it in a backyard in a southwestern region home to many foie gras and poultry producers.
The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus killed 22 chickens out of 32 kept in a family backyard at Biras in the Perigord region, officials said.
Ministers asked France's health and safety agency to evaluate the strain's degree of danger to humans, Agriculture Minister Stephane Le Foll told reporters, insisting there was no risk of transmission by eating food.