KAZAKHSTAN AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE

UNCLAS ALMATY 003085 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CACEN MUDGE, AND EUR/RUS NOLL ALSO FOR EUR/PGI AYU, OES/IHA COMELLA AND SINGER, OES/STC NP/PTR CAMERON, EB/TPP/ATP, EB/TPP/BTA AND INR/REA USDA FAS FOR ITP FOR MACKE/THOMAS, CMP/DLP WETZEL FAS PLEASE PASS TO APHIS AND FSIS HHS FOR WSTEIGER, PBUDASHEWITZ CDC FOR SBLOUNT, EMCCRAY BRUSSELS PLEASE PASS TO APHIS/FENANDEZ ANKARA FOR FAS ATTACHE HIGGISTON GENEVA FOR HEALTH ATTACHE TASHKENT FOR ESTH SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR TBIO ECON RS ETRD PGOV KZ POLITICAL SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE REF: (A) ALMATY 2842 (B) ALMATY 2904 (C) ALMATY 2957 (D) STATE 15149 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: This telegram supplements Reftels A-C and responds to the directive in para. 5 of Reftel D. On August 18, additional outbreaks of H5N1 AI were confirmed in villages of North Kazakhstan Oblast, which borders on the Russian Federation. Thousands of domesticated birds have been culled in response. The GOK canceled the fall hunting season to prevent contact between humans and wild fowl during the migratory period. In sum, the GOK has spent 10.5 million KZT (about $780,000) on its response to AI. Local media are reporting that market prices for poultry and eggs are rising in some areas, particularly for imports. No/no further reports of AI have been made since August 18. No/no indications of AI transmission to a human have been noted in Kazakhstan since last report. End Summary. NKO Outbreak Continues to Grow -------------- ¶2. (U) On August 18, the Ministry of Agriculture announced that the AI situation in North Kazakhstan Oblast is serious, and that measures taken to isolate domesticated birds from wild birds are not being implemented adequately. The Ministry's press release named villages where Ministry inspectors observed domesticated birds not being kept in fenced areas, and faulted the Ministry's own attempts to advise farmers on what to do. In the villages of Dubrovnoye (Mamlyutskiy district) and Talakper (Yesilskiy district),the Ministry confirmed the presence of H5N1 AI among domesticated fowl. ¶3. (U) The cases in Dubrovnoye and Talakper led to the destruction of 2,711 animals in the former and 3,193 in the latter. These numbers are significant because according to the Agriculture Ministry, only 9,056 birds had been culled cumulatively as of August 17. The actions in Dubrovnoye and Talakper bring the total number of reported cullings to 14,960; the two villages account for 40% of the total. Latest Agriculture Ministry Actions -------------- ¶4. (U) The director of the Agriculture Ministry's veterinary department, Dr. Asylbek Kazhmuratov announced at an August 16 press conference that the GOK had spent 10.5 million KZT (about $780,000) on the AI epidemic so far. Two thirds of that money had been spent on protective clothing and operating expenses for sanitation personnel. The remaining funds, he said, were spent on disinfecting households and providing compensation for destroyed flocks. ¶5. (U) At the same press conference, Kazhmuratov announced a ban on fall bird hunting. The GOK should confirm this in a decree in the very near future. Normally the fall hunting season runs for two weeks in October. Poultry Prices Climbing -------------- ¶6. (U) Local media are also reporting increases of 10-15% or more in prices for poultry and eggs in some markets. Traders in markets assure customers that the chicken and eggs they are selling are not from the affected regions of the country. According to the largest poultry wholesaler in South Kazakhstan, the retail traders must be adding a premium for this guarantee, because the wholesale price has not changed. Prices for products imported from the U.S. have increased as well - in one week, the price of U.S. chicken legs has jumped from 260 to 300 KZT per kilogram, a 15.4% increase. (Comment: The rise in prices may reflect decreased supply due to restrictions on transporting or selling poultry and eggs from the affected oblasts. However, the increasing prices could also be read somewhat optimistically as an indication that demand remains constant despite the situation. End comment.) GOK Response Organization -------------- ¶7. (SBU) As the AI epidemic has spread, the GOK has formalized the structure of its interagency response. While the Ministry of Agriculture is the most directly involved Ministry, policy issues are worked out at the interagency level. Overall coordination is performed by the secretariat of the Security Council. Additionally, a coordinating committee has been established with representation from the Ministries of Emergency Situations, Agriculture, Healthcare, Interior and the Border Guards ( a directorate of the Committee for National Security, or KNB.) The chairman of the coordinating committee is First Deputy Minister of Emergency Situations Nurakhmet Bezhanov. ¶9. (SBU) Outside organizations are also contributing to the GOK's response, including the International Epizootic Bureau (OIE),and the World Health Organization. However, their contributions have been relatively minor - most likely because of the significant differences in scale between the epidemics in Kazakhstan and Russia. ¶10. (U) Dushanbe Minimize considered. ASQUINO NNNN