VIETNAM - AVIAN FLU: SITUATION REPORT

UNCLAS HANOI 000846

SIPDIS

FOR CA/OCS/ACS/EAP; EAP/EX; EAP/BCLTV; OES/STC (M.GOLDBERG);
OES/IHA (D.SINGER AND N.COMELLA)
BANGKOK FOR RMO, CDC, USAID/RDM/A - MFRIEDMAN
STATE PASS HHS FOR STEIGER
USDA FOR FAS/PASS TO APHIS
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR OSD/ISA/AP FOR LEW STERN
DIRAFMIC FOR WENNER, MULLINS, WYMA
USAID FOR GHB, ANE/DCAROLL, SCLEMENTS AND PCHAPLIN



E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AMED AMGT CASC EAGR TBIO VM AFLU
SUBJECT: VIETNAM - AVIAN FLU: SITUATION REPORT

REF: Hanoi 752 and previous

Human Cases
--------------


1. Avian Influenza, subtype H5N1 (AI),infection has been
confirmed in the family of five in Hai Phong (reported in
para 4 of reftel) and these cases are now reported on the
WHO website. None of the five cases has resulted in death.


2. The Vietnamese National Institute for Hygiene and
Epidemiology (NIHE) also confirms that a 10 year old girl
who passed away in Hanoi on March 27th also tested positive
for AI.


3. Additional cases have been reported in the foreign and
local press, but have not been confirmed: a 27 year old
woman in Ha Thinh province (who reportedly drank duck
blood),a 12 year old girl in Hai Phong (who lived near a
poultry slaughterhouse),a woman in Hue, and a 34 year old
male physician in Quang Ninh (who was hospitalized on Friday
April 1st due to respiratory distress and received treatment
for SARS before his death on Sunday April 3rd).


Donor's Group
--------------


4. On Thursday, April 7th, the UNDP hosted a meeting of the
"Donor's Group" in Vietnam which focused on Avian Influenza
related assistance. The WHO and FAO presented a revised
draft of their request for assistance (reported para 10,
Hanoi 467) and reiterated their request for support. The
detail of this meeting will be reported septel.

Timing
--------------


5. By this time last year, the 2003-2004 outbreak had
tapered off with no new cases reported by Vietnam's MOH from
the middle of March through July. In fact, the GVN declared
the outbreak `officially over' on March 31, 2004. The fact
that we are seeing cases into April this year may be due to
a number of reasons, including better case identification,
better lab assessments and confirmation, different weather
patterns (the weather has remained cooler for longer in the
northern provinces this year),or a change in the virus -
although CDC and others have not reported a change.

MARINE