A sign calling for the protection of ostriches at Universal Ostrich Farms. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued a cull order for several hundred ostriches at the farm after testing for avian influenza.AARON HEMENS/The Canadian Press

Since the spring of 2022, 173,107,698 chickens, ducks, geese and other poultry have been culled in the U.S.

Another 14,566,000 birds in commercial operations and backyard flocks have been slaughtered and disposed of in Canada in a bid to diminish the threat of avian influenza spreading to other mammals, including humans.

The rules are harsh. If a single bird tests positive for avian influenza, the whole flock is eliminated immediately and farms are compensated for their losses. This “stamping out” strategy, as crude as it is, remains the best tool we have in preventing a pandemic of H5N1 influenza. So why are we all atwitter about the death sentence issued to a wobble of ostriches?

The basics of........

© The Globe and Mail