“The law is an ass” declared Dickens’ Mr. Bumble the Beadle, when confronted with an adverse verdict in a breach of promise lawsuit. This quotation could relate to the scientifically unjustified depopulation of a flock of approximately 350 ostriches in Edgewood, British Columbia during mid-November.
The saga began in December 2024 with mortality among a number of ostriches in the flock leading to an on-site investigation by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Tracheal swabs from a small number of birds yielded H5N1 avian influenza virus. It is unknown whether the sampled birds were either unaffected, showing clinical signs or were dead. According to Canadian regulations that parallel those in the U.S. “poultry” flocks yielding highly pathogenic avian influenza are subject to depopulation followed by disposal and decontamination with indemnity.
Based on experience in the Republic of South Africa, ostriches are essentially refractory to clinical HPAI, and it is unknown whether the December 2024 mortality was attributed to this infection or some other cause or an interaction between HPAI and an intercurrent bacterial infection. This is likely given the prevailing weather conditions. The owners of the flock obviously erred in failing to report mortality to veterinary authorities who followed standard CFIA protocol requiring depopulation. Generally, ostriches infected with avian influenza cease shedding virus after approximately two weeks at which time circulating antibody can be demonstrated. Depopulating non-shedding ostriches eleven months after an outbreak appears to be an exercise in futility despite the adverse rulings of successive courts interpreting regulations.
Ostrich flock corralled for depopulation by "marksmen" |
The CFIA failed to conduct a serologic survey or to determine the distribution and prevalence of infection among the flock in December 2024. It is possible that the affected birds were young and devoid of antibody probably present in the older birds, previously subjected to seasonal exposure. The appropriate action at the time would have been to quarantine the flock, maintain a highly level of biosecurity and conduct weekly sampling for the presence of influenza virus applying PCR assay. Given that the farm located in Edgewood was remote from any concentrations of commercial poultry the risk of transmission from the farm was negligible. In any event, since the source of infection was presumably wild birds cohabiting with the ostrich flock their destruction would not have reduced risk to backyard or commercial poultry in the region. Edgewood is located about 70 miles north of the border with Washington State on the Canoe River, located in the Pacific migratory flyway.
The courts cannot be faulted on their rulings that are based on clearly defined regulations that define ostriches as “poultry”. The unhappy outcome for the healthy birds and their owners is attributed to CFIA intransigence and slavish conformity to regulations relating to the control of avian influenza, seasonally prevalent among poultry flocks.
A public relations campaign mounted by the owners of Universal Ostrich to avert depopulation was ineffective. The intervention of Robert F. Kennedy Jr, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services was ill-advised and possibly counterproductive. The claim that the ostriches had been hyper-immunized against specific antigens was a spurious justification to preserve the flock given the rigidity of the CFIA.
The Universal Ostrich episode is an example of apparachiks implementing regulations that should be interpreted based on established scientific principles. The owners have been deprived of their flock that did not represent any risk to commercial poultry in November 2025. Depopulation did nothing to eradicate HPAI that is constantly introduced on to farms by wild migratory and possibly resident birds. The futility of this exercise is exemplified by the ongoing outbreaks of HPAI in flocks in a number of Canadian provinces.
To end with a Dickensian theme, the lyrics of the Broadway show, Oliver based on the eponymous novel, has Fagin stating, “I think I have to think it out again.” This would be sage advice for the CFIA. They should have recognized the futility of depopulation in November 2025, an action carried out without determining either the infective or antibody status of the flock.