PARIS, Dec 5 (Reuters) - France raised the risk level of bird flu to 'high' from 'moderate' on Tuesday after the detection of new cases of the disease, forcing poultry farms to keep birds indoors to stem the spread of the highly contagious virus.
Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions birds worldwide in recent years.
France said last week that it had detected a first bird flu outbreak on a farm this season in Brittany, in the northwest of the country.
The "high" risk level implies that all poultry should be kept inside on farms and additional security measures taken to avoid a spread of the disease.
Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide and Gus Trompiz; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons:
Sybille de La Hamaide, Gus Trompiz, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Kirsten Donovan
Organizations:
Thomson
Locations:
France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Brittany