The operators of a British Columbia ostrich flock that's facing a cull order after an avian flu outbreak are calling for independent testing of the birds to prevent their "unnecessary destruction."
Katie Pasitney, whose parents own Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, B.C., issued a statement on Monday, saying the nearly 400 ostriches are healthy and have shown no signs of illness for more than four months.
The statement says the flock poses no threat and should be tested for ongoing avian flu infections, saying the ostriches have acquired herd immunity to the virus and are a valuable scientific resource.
The statement is in response to a lengthy update from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Friday that said it had fined the farm $20,000 for failing to co-operate with anti-avian flu measures.
The agency said says it issued two violation notices to the farm for failing to report illnesses and deaths among the flock last year, and failing to follow quarantine orders.
It says the type of avian flu infection at the premise is a mutation not seen elsewhere in Canada and includes a genotype that has been associated with a human infection in a poultry worker in Ohio.
The CFIA statement represents a rebuff for proposals of U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wrote to the CFIA's president last week and called for the birds to be saved for joint research.
Protesters have been gathered for weeks at an ostrich farm in Edgewood, B.C., where an outbreak of avian flu killed 69 of the birds in December and January.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency wants the remaining 400 or so birds killed. Here's the situation:
WHY DOES THE CFIA WANT THE BIRDS CULLED?
The CFIA says allowing an exposed flock to live increases the risk of reassortment or mutation of the virus, particularly because the ostriches are raised in the open and are exposed to wild birds and other animals.
It says in a May 30 statement that the infection that hit the flock is a "novel reassortment not seen elsewhere in Canada" and it includes a genotype associated with a human infection in a poultry worker in Ohio.
It says there are "ongoing serious risks for animal and human health, and trade."
WHY DO THE FARMERS OPPOSE THE CULL?
The owners of Universal Ostrich Farms say their ostriches are a valuable scientific resource and that the flock should be studied because they have acquired herd immunity to avian flu.
They say the flock poses no threat and want the birds tested for ongoing avian flu infections.
They have also said compensation of $3,000 per bird is inadequate.
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT THE FARM?
Dozens of protesters are camped at the farm in an attempt to thwart a cull. Their numbers were bolstered over the weekend when a convoy of about a dozen vehicles arrived.
The protest has been widely popularized on social media, including in the United States, with supporters seeing the planned cull as an unnecessary example of government overreach. The farmers have also been visited by provincial and federal legislators who support them.
RCMP have made several trips to the farm, both to prepare for potential arrests and to investigate the recent death of an ostrich that the farm owners say was shot.
The CFIA says the protest "has delayed a timely and appropriate response" resulting in ongoing human and animal health risks.
WHAT HAVE OFFICIALS SAID?
Agriculture Minister Heath MacDonald said last week that the CFIA was following "due process" regarding the flock, while B.C. Premier David Eby said on May 14 that he was "frustrated" by the actions of the CFIA and he hoped the farmers were properly compensated.
United States Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote to the CFIA's president on May 23 to call for a halt to the cull, so the ostriches could be studied. Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, later offered to save the birds by relocating them to his ranch in Florida.
WHEN COULD A CULL HAPPEN?
The CFIA says it continues planning for "humane depopulation" of the ostriches but will not make the date of the operation public.
