FRANCE kept quiet about the discovery of a wild duck with bird flu while it encouraged the EU to soften its safety regime against the killer strain of the infection.

The French told Brussels that the highly pathogenic virus had reached them five minutes before new Europe-wide rules were adopted. The official confirmation message, signed by France’s chief veterinary officer, gave the wrong date for the duck’s discovery.

No security measures were imposed between the discovery of the dead duck and the announcement, six days later, that the H5N1 strain, which can kill human beings, was responsible. A turkey farm 200 yards away later became the first poultry business in Europe to contract the virus, prompting 49 countries to impose bans on French fowl. Another 29 wild birds have since perished locally from H5N1.

Documents were obtained by The Times under Environmental Information Regulations from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in London.

John Bowis, a former British health minister, now a leading member of the European Parliament’s Centre-Right, accused the French of “playing the system”. But France insisted that it had acted “with perfect transparency” and told the truth without any delays or intention to mislead. Seven dead ducks were found by a lake at Joyeux, eastern France, on February 11 by a hunter who alerted officials. The EU obliges nations to test immediately but France waited two days.

A hunting office spokesman said: “We put them in storage because at that time the laboratory in Bourg-en-Bresse did not work at the weekend.”

Daniel Baroux, the laboratory’s director, said that the duck had tested positive for flu on February 15 and was sent to a national laboratory to determine the strain. “We told the Ministry of Agriculture as soon as we knew the bird had influenza.”

The next day, a European Commission committee voted through security measures to be imposed where flu was discovered in wild birds. The Commission said that the new laws were “broadly in line” with protection zones imposed in areas where the disease had been found. But important get-outs were inserted. Ready-to-lay pullets and turkeys for fattening were the only birds that could be moved out of the existing protected areas. The Commission inserted a clause extending this to “other poultry and farmed feathered game” such as ducks and geese. The measure was proposed by France and won unanimous support.

Test results on the afternoon of February 17 indicated that the duck had died of the highly pathogenic strain.

At 3.55pm, France telephoned the Commission to break the news. At 4pm, the Commission adopted the new safety measures. France’s chief vet, Monique Eloit, immediately wrote to Brussels stating that the duck had been found on February 13.

The ministry said: “It’s true the bird was found on the 11th, but the bird was taken to the laboratory on the 13th. If there was a slight mistake, then it certainly didn’t stem from any intention to mislead.”

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