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