An ostrich farm in B.C.’s West┬аKootenay has been ordered to┬аcull┬аits entire herd of 400 birds after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed the presence┬аof avian flu there.┬а
Universal Ostrich┬аhas been told to get rid of its birds by Feb. 1, according to Katie Pasitney, who has operated┬аthe Edgewood, B.C., farm along with her mother and business partner for over 35 years.
In the CFIA’s letter to the farm, shared with CBC News, the agency says it issued the cull order on Dec. 31 following an avian flu detection earlier that month. CFIA┬аsays it follows the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) in classifying the ostriches as “poultry.”
The order comes as highly pathogenic avian flu (the H5N1 variant) continues to spread┬аin Canada, impacting more than 15 million domestic birds, an unknown number of wild birds,┬аand even some dairy cattle and┬аpeople.
But Pasitney says her ostriches present little risk to the wider population, as flightless birds that aren’t being sold for meat, and that the farm has implemented strict quarantine protocols since the disease was detected in early December.
“There’s gonna be a huge impact to mental health here, as well as to the world, honestly,” she told CBC News through tears.
“If you kill 400, it’s a mass massacre of animals and┬аit’d be heartbreaking to see this happen.”
A family in Edgewood, B.C., says they’ll stay put as fires burn around them because it’s not fair to abandon the 500 ostriches on their farm.
Pasitney’s┬аfarm and her ostriches survived wildfires in 2021. She says the decades-old birds have become like family.
The farm operator says not all of her birds have fallen sick, and some of her herd have resisted infection completely since it was first detected. She estimates around nine per cent of her 400-plus birds have died.
In a statement, the CFIA┬аsays it’s the first time they’ve detected avian flu in Canadian ostriches since they began responding to the highly pathogenic flu outbreak in December 2021.
Obligation to follow treaties
J. Scott Weese, a professor at the Ontario Veterinary College, told CBC News in an email that a decision to cull animals at a farm is a cost-benefit decision, where the costs and benefits can’t be quantified easily.
“In general, culling makes more sense when there’s widespread infection, risk to people around the animals, limited other exposure risk, where disease is more severe and where there’s less value тАФ economic, conservation, human-animal bond┬атАФ┬аof the animals,” he said.
But Weese added that H5N1 is now well established in Canada, and there may be less justification for culling from the standpoint of controlling disease.
Close to 80 poultry farms in B.C. have experienced avian flu outbreaks since the middle of October, according to the B.C. Poultry Association.
Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, a professor at the University of Montreal’s veterinary school, says Canada has signed a treaty with the WOAH, which means it has agreed on certain specific measures┬аwhen it comes to controlling avian flu, like culls.
“Whether you’re in Europe or in Canada and [the] United States, it will be essentially the same reaction,” he said.┬а“We try to extinguish the fire тАФ┬аso essentially the virus can’t feed and replicate if it has other birds around.”
Vaillancourt added that ostriches are no less susceptible to avian flu than other birds, especially over the past few years with the highly pathogenic variety, and could potentially carry the disease even if they aren’t symptomatic.
But Pasitney says the CFIA is losing an opportunity to study the genes of the birds who have resisted the flu, something the farm has been doing in its own time.
“We have 35-year-old birds here with genetics and DNA we’ll never get back,” she said. “So it’d be nice if we can all band together and [get] all the support we can get to make a policy change.”
In the CFIA’s letter to the farm, it says its assessment of the herd didn’t meet the bar to be considered a breed with “rare and valuable poultry genetics.”
“Robust processes must be in place (ex. genomic testing) to actively select and breed for specific desirable traits, with subsequent evidence that this genetic value is critical to the Canadian poultry industry,” the letter reads.
Still, Pasitney┬аsays she’s looking at her options to preserve her herd, and is asking the CFIA to extend the cull deadline beyond Feb. 1.
The penalty for disobeying the CFIA’s cull order is unclear. CBC News has reached out to the agency to find out more.
