(Bloomberg) -- French poultry farmers face a mass cull of their flocks for a second straight year as a bird flu crisis deepens across Europe.

The government on Thursday ordered poultry and waterfowl in parts of the southwest -- home to France’s famed foie-gras industry -- to be killed to stop the disease spreading. That follows a severe outbreak that claimed about 3.5 million poultry, mainly ducks, between autumn 2020 and spring 2021.

Bird flu, whose highly pathogenic varieties can be deadly to poultry, often spreads through migrating birds and cases typically peak in winter. Europe has been facing a grim season with outbreaks in more than two dozen countries since October, risking higher chicken prices and fewer-free range eggs. That may spell more bad news for consumers already facing near-record food costs.

The latest cull order affects 2.5 million poultry, Reuters reported.

Many of the cases in France have been on duck farms, including for foie gras, according to a U.K. report. The Aquitaine region is where most birds are raised to produce the luxury food, made from the liver of fattened ducks or geese. 

Some 216 cases were reported in southwest France by Jan. 18, compared with 291 at the same time last year, the agriculture ministry said. Breeder flocks and hatcheries will be preserved to allow farms to be restocked after the crisis. 

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