1 month_ago
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British Columbia
Roughly 400 birds person been ordered killed aft avian flu was detected successful 2 carcasses successful December.
Roughly 400 birds ordered killed aft avian flu detected successful 2 carcasses successful December
Andrew Kurjata · CBC News
· Posted: May 23, 2025 11:27 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says helium has talked to Canadian wellness officials astir sparing a flock of ostriches successful British Columbia that person been ordered killed owed to avian flu fears.
In a connection posted to X, Kennedy says that helium spoke with Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) president Paul MacKinnon on Thursday to sermon the destiny of the astir 400 ostriches astatine Universal Ostrich successful Edgewood, B.C. wherever avian flu was detected successful 2 dormant birds successful December 2024.
In a missive to MacKinnon and posted to X, Kennedy reiterates that helium is "respectfully requesting" the CFIA "consider not culling the full flock of ostriches," arguing "we judge determination is important worth successful studying this population."
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Among the reasons cited is the long-lived quality of the ostriches, and the anticipation that they whitethorn clasp accusation astir antibodies to avian flu.
He goes connected to constitute that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration Agency (FDA) would supply their "full enactment and assistance" successful conducting the investigating and probe proposed.
The letter, signed by Kennedy arsenic good arsenic NIH director Jay Bhattacharya and FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary states that portion the U.S. officials recognize the value of stopping the dispersed of avian flu, they judge determination is constricted worth successful sidesplitting the surviving birds astatine Universal Ostrich astir six months aft the past vertebrate believed to beryllium infected with avian flu died.
It besides warns against a argumentation of sidesplitting each birds successful each flock infected, fixed the wide quality of avian flu successful chaotic vertebrate populations.
It's not the archetypal clip Kennedy has weighed successful connected the case, having antecedently been asked astir it during an interrogation connected a New York vigor amusement and telling the big helium was "horrified by the thought that they are going to termination these animals."
CFIA has said cull volition determination forward
CBC News has reached retired the CFIA for a response.
Earlier successful the day, the bureau provided CBC News with a connection indicating the cull would beryllium moving guardant and it would not beryllium retesting the birds. Nor would it see an exemption for its "stamping out" policy, which is applied to each "domestic poultry" flocks wherever avian flu is detected, which includes ostriches and emus on with ducks, chickens, and turkeys.
"Under Canada's stamping retired policy, each home birds astatine an infected premises are depopulated to power the hazard of further spread," the spokesperson wrote.
Court documents person shown that the CFIA had provided Universal Ostrich with the process for applying for an exemption but that it failed to conscionable the standards required, which would impact impervious that the birds were considered uncommon oregon unsocial capable to beryllium spared. Methods of proving this include breeding books, designation from a certified breed relation oregon the poultry industry, oregon circumstantial genomic testing, which the workplace could not provide.
Only 1 exemption to a cull bid has been granted successful Canada, successful a 2022 lawsuit of a turkey workplace wherever avian flu had been detected successful 2 barns but not others connected the premises, due to the fact that those animals had been kept abstracted and information measures had been taken to forestall the imaginable dispersed of illness betwixt the antithetic structures — conditions that bash not beryllium astatine Universal Ostrich wherever inspectors observed chaotic birds, weasels and "unauthorized individuals" walking among infected animals, successful usurpation of quarantine policy.
In that earlier statement, the CFIA says the argumentation is built connected the standards of the World Organisation for Animal Health and states that a "single laboratory confirmed lawsuit of H5 avian influenza is capable to state a premises infected, fixed however easy the illness tin dispersed to different birds."
It says successful the lawsuit of Universal Ostrich farm, the illness was confirmed done the postulation of duplicate samples of 2 precocious deceased birds.
Supporters gather
The workplace has attracted galore supporters from Canada and internationally, a fewer twelve of whom person stationed themselves astatine the property following a May 13 national tribunal ruling stating that the cull could determination forward.
The justice successful that ruling did not measurement successful connected the technological arguments of the case, ruling that the CFIA has a mandate from the national authorities to grip cases similar culls, and it would beryllium inappropriate for the judiciary to get involved.
Instead, the ruling said the CFIA had followed the due channels and policies successful making its decision.
The CFIA argued that its policies are based connected technological research, arsenic good arsenic Canada's planetary obligations to effort to forestall avian flu from mutating and spreading further, perchance making it much unsafe to some humans and animals.
Several politicians, including B.C. Premier David Eby, person expressed vexation that the CFIA has not conducted much flexibility connected the idiosyncratic case.
Jordan Kealy, an autarkic MLA and husbandman who visited Universal Ostrich, told CBC News galore radical who rise livestock are acrophobic astir the stamping retired policy, arguing that fixed avian flu has dispersed truthful wide into chaotic birds it is astir intolerable to forestall imaginable corruption portion inactive allowing animals to interact with the extracurricular world.
However, the CFIA says it recognizes some the economical and affectional interaction of culls, which is wherefore it offers compensation for immoderate animals killed — up to $3,000 per carnal successful the lawsuit of ostriches.
Difficult decision: professor
Fiona Brinkman, a prof astatine Simon Fraser University's section of molecular biology and biochemistry, told CBC News aft the tribunal determination that the CFIA is successful a hard presumption successful the look of a highly infectious illness which impacts not conscionable birds but besides mammals, including humans.
"It's a truly pugnacious one," she said successful an interrogation with CBC Daybreak South host Chris Walker. "This is yet a calamity of a pathogen that is present a menace to aggregate industries and galore animals."
The top fear, she said, is that a caller variant of avian flu could mutate that is adjacent much unsafe to animals and humans.
But, she said, she had hoped the CFIA would behaviour caller tests connected the ostriches present that truthful overmuch clip has passed since the archetypal cull bid was given.
"I bash anticipation they're going to bash a small spot much investigation," she said.
LISTEN | Biology prof weighs successful connected ostrich cull order: Daybreak South7:44B.C. prof thinks CFIA should cod much information earlier enforcing an bid to cull a herd of ostriches
Brinkman noted that for astir home flocks of birds, the mortality complaint erstwhile avian flu is detected is upwards of 90 per cent but that was not the lawsuit for ostriches, with the bulk inactive alive. However, that besides meant the microorganism could "linger" successful the birds for a longer play of time, perchance spreading to chaotic flocks.
"There's a existent occupation with the birds not being capable to beryllium sheltered," she said. "Poultry, for example, you tin enactment them successful a barn. That's not due for ostriches."
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