The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it will go ahead with a cull of ostriches from a farm in Edgewood, B.C., despite a request from United States Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that they be spared.
Kennedy had posted a letter on social media on Friday addressed to CFIA President Paul MacKinnon, saying there is “significant value” studying the ostriches’ immune response to avian flu and asking the agency to partner in a study of the birds.
The letter is co-signed by the heads of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and National Institutes of Health, who Kennedy said took part in a conversation with MacKinnon on Thursday.
The food inspection agency says in response to a question about whether Kennedy’s letter will have any impact on the cull that the “humane depopulation” of the flock will proceed.
It says dates and plans will not be shared publicly, citing privacy protections for producers.
The agency had earlier confirmed in an email that MacKinnon had a call on May 22 with the commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration along with Kennedy, who it said had expressed an interest in the H5N1 outbreak on the ostrich farm.
“The CFIA remains focused on our ongoing highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) response across Canada,” the agency said in the statement issued Saturday.
Sixty-nine of the flock died of avian flu in December and January, but the owners of Universal Ostrich Farms say the remaining 400 or so birds are healthy and have acquired herd immunity, making them valuable scientific subjects.
Kennedy’s intervention came after dozens of protesters gathered at the farm to try to prevent the cull ordered by federal authorities.
Some remain camped at the farm, and have been calling for more to join them.
