H5N1 zoonotic influenza in France

The HAS recommends adapting the pre-pandemic vaccination strategy based on three main criteria:

• Number of outbreaks in animals,
• Number of human cases and their rate of increase,
• Severity of symptoms in humans.

The primary objective of vaccination is to prevent the development of severe forms in the event of contamination and potentially to reduce the risk of transmission from animals to humans. The HAS therefore recommends vaccination with the pre-pandemic vaccine Zoonotic Influenza Vaccine Seqirus in the event of an increase in animal outbreaks and the occurrence of severe human cases. In this case, the HAS recommends prioritizing the following groups at risk of H5N1 virus infection:

• Poultry farmers (and cattle farmers, if outbreaks of infection occur in this type of farm),
• Technical staff in veterinary diagnostic and research laboratories (autopsies, sampling, experimentation),
• Laboratory staff handling the virus as part of the investigation of human cases, particularly at the National Center for Research on Animal Health (CNR),
• Poultry technicians and veterinarians,
• Staff performing emergency slaughter,
• Killing plants.