Jean-Marie Girier, prefect of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Department (left), during a cattle vaccination against contagious nodular dermatitis in Riupeyrous, December 17, 2025. PHILIPPE LOPEZ/AFP
In response to protests by farmers criticizing the government's handling of the health crisis caused by contagious nodular dermatitis (Lumpy skin disease) – a disease that does not affect humans – the government has put all its hopes in vaccination. "It is an absolute emergency," said Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, speaking before the Assemblée Nationale on Tuesday, December 16.
The targets are ambitious: Vaccinate all 1,000 farms in the Ariège department by December 31, and overall, 750,000 cattle in the southwest must receive an injection as soon as possible. This is both a logistical and human challenge, amid growing tensions between veterinarians – who are tasked with both culling and vaccinating – and farmers, who oppose the systematic culling of herds where the disease is detected.
Currently, according to the Agriculture Ministry, all 113 outbreaks recorded across 79 farms have been "extinguished," meaning that all cattle that came into contact with an animal identified as positive for the skin disease virus have been culled, and the sites have been disinfected. In total, this concerns 3,300 animals out of a national herd of 17 million cattle. However, suspicions persist in several departments.
