Overview
- Exports of live bovines are suspended nationwide for roughly 15–17 days from October 17, and domestic bovine gatherings and markets are banned until early November.
- Authorities report about 86 affected holdings and nearly 2,000 animals culled since June as outbreaks extend beyond Savoie and Haute‑Savoie to Jura, Ain, Pyrénées‑Orientales and other departments.
- The agriculture ministry links distant cases to likely illicit animal movements, prompting tightened checks by prefectures with police and gendarmerie enforcement and possible sanctions.
- France has ordered about 800,000 vaccine doses, with vaccination to be mandated in regulated zones as officials stress rapid action to maintain confidence of key buyers in Spain and Italy.
- Farm unions decry the nationwide halt as abrupt and economically damaging during peak export weeks, while crisis meetings continue and a provisional restart is targeted for early November.