Ostrich Farm’s Pandemic Prevention Claims Built on Falsehoods, Investigation Reveals

A 10-month legal battle that captured international attention and cost Canadian taxpayers nearly $7 million has been exposed as a web of exaggerated claims and scientific misrepresentations, according to an extensive investigation by CBC’s fifth estate.

Universal Ostrich Farms in Edgewood, British Columbia, launched a high-profile campaign against a government-ordered cull after avian flu was detected on their property in December 2024. The farm owners, Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski, claimed their nearly 400 ostriches were scientifically unique and producing antibodies that could prevent the next global pandemic.

“I think calling it scientific work is quite generous,” said Angela Rasmussen, an avian flu virologist at the University of Saskatchewan who reviewed the investigation’s findings. “I call it a scam.”

The farm’s claims garnered support from anti-government protesters, animal rights activists, Canadian politicians and even officials in the Trump administration. Their social media campaign and legal challenges delayed the cull until November 2025, almost a year after the initial outbreak.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) had ordered the cull following standard “stamping out policy” procedures after determining that a highly pathogenic strain of H5N1 had infected the farm’s birds. By mid-January, 69 ostriches had already died from the disease.

The farm owners contested the order, claiming their remaining ostriches had developed herd immunity and possessed superior immune systems. They launched a legal challenge that reached the Supreme Court of Canada.

Throughout their campaign, Universal Ostrich Farms alleged their company, Struthio Bioscience Inc., was developing revolutionary treatments using ostrich antibodies for conditions ranging from obesity and baldness to cholera and celiac disease. They repeatedly claimed the federal government was colluding with pharmaceutical companies to shut down their research.

“We can produce the weight loss antibodies or any antibodies through a natural system that’s been around for 70 fricking million years,” Bilinski told the fifth estate.

However, the investigation uncovered numerous discrepancies in the farm’s scientific claims and business operations. A 2024 business plan filed in court listed Harvard Medical School Professor Dr. Alessio Fasano as part of Struthio’s scientific advisory board. When contacted, Fasano said this was “the first he had heard” of Struthio and was “disturbed” his name was used without consent.

Dr. Lyle Oberg, a former Alberta finance minister listed as a member of Struthio’s board of directors, told investigators the board never met. He also disagreed with the business plan’s projection of $2.2 billion in revenue by 2029, calling it unrealistic.

The farm claimed tests conducted by Immune Biosolutions, a Quebec-based antibody research company, proved their ostrich antibodies were 98 percent effective at neutralizing COVID-19. However, Immune Biosolutions stated in an email that samples from Universal Ostrich Farms “did not demonstrate the quality, purity or specificity required for therapeutic development,” which is why the collaboration ended.

CFIA officials who inspected the farm found no evidence of scientific research taking place. “There was no covered barn. In fact, there was garbage strewn in the farm. The conditions that the birds were in, living in, there was no evidence of any scientific research or any ability to do that,” said a senior CFIA official who requested anonymity due to safety concerns following threats against inspectors.

Japanese researcher Yasuhiro Tsukamoto, whom the farm credited for many of its scientific claims, contradicted the farm’s narrative in an interview with the fifth estate. Tsukamoto, who calls himself “Dr. Ostrich,” stated that Universal Ostrich Farms had overstated his company’s revenue by more than 200 times in their business materials.

When asked about the farm’s repeated claim that their ostriches were scientifically advanced, Tsukamoto was clear: “Their ostriches aren’t particularly different from other ostriches. An ostrich is an ostrich.”

Moreover, Tsukamoto explained that since the flock had been exposed to avian flu, they could no longer be used to produce antibodies for commercial products.

The farm’s crowdfunding efforts collected more than $330,000, not including private donations. Meanwhile, court records show Espersen, Bilinski and their companies have been ordered to pay creditors nearly $500,000 over the past three years.

Deb Pion, an Edgewood resident, believes the campaign was financially motivated. “This is a new business plan. They’re just ripping the people off and that’s sad,” she said.

The CFIA says the 10-month delay in culling the ostriches cost taxpayers nearly $7 million, making it the most expensive animal cull in Canadian history.

Virologist Rasmussen expressed concern about the public health risks of the delay, noting it increased the potential for the virus to spread and mutate in ways that could affect humans. In February 2025, a poultry worker in Ohio was hospitalized with the same unique strain of the virus found on the Edgewood farm, though the source of that infection remains unknown.

“Could it become a pandemic virus? We don’t know,” said Rasmussen. “But the only way to find out is to have that happen. And so we don’t actually want to find out because that risk would be so catastrophic.”