Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05HOCHIMINHCITY891
2005-08-23 23:51:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Ho Chi Minh City
Cable title:  

AVIAN FLU: POULTRY VACCINATION BEGINS IN TIEN GIANG

Tags:  EAGR ECON AMED TBIO CASC PGOV SENV SOCI VM AFLU 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000891 

SIPDIS
--------------------------------------------- --
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - REMOVING PASS LINE
--------------------------------------------- ---
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR FOR CA/OCS/ACS/EAP; EAP/EX; EAP/BCLTV;
STATE FOR OES/STC (M.GOLDBERG); OES/IHA (D.SINGER AND
N.COMELLA)
BANGKOK FOR RMO, CDC, USAID/RDM/A (MFRIEDMAN)
STATE PASS HHS/OGHA (WSTEIGER, EELVANDER, ABHAT)
USDA FOR FAS/PASS TO APHIS
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR OSD/ISA/AP FOR LEW STERN
USAID FOR ANE AND GH (DCAROLL, SCLEMENTS AND PCHAPLIN)
DEPT PASS TO AID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ECON AMED TBIO CASC PGOV SENV SOCI VM AFLU
SUBJECT: AVIAN FLU: POULTRY VACCINATION BEGINS IN TIEN GIANG
PROVINCE

REF: HCMC 0855

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000891

SIPDIS
-------------- --
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - REMOVING PASS LINE
-------------- ---
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR FOR CA/OCS/ACS/EAP; EAP/EX; EAP/BCLTV;
STATE FOR OES/STC (M.GOLDBERG); OES/IHA (D.SINGER AND
N.COMELLA)
BANGKOK FOR RMO, CDC, USAID/RDM/A (MFRIEDMAN)
STATE PASS HHS/OGHA (WSTEIGER, EELVANDER, ABHAT)
USDA FOR FAS/PASS TO APHIS
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR OSD/ISA/AP FOR LEW STERN
USAID FOR ANE AND GH (DCAROLL, SCLEMENTS AND PCHAPLIN)
DEPT PASS TO AID

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ECON AMED TBIO CASC PGOV SENV SOCI VM AFLU
SUBJECT: AVIAN FLU: POULTRY VACCINATION BEGINS IN TIEN GIANG
PROVINCE

REF: HCMC 0855


1. (SBU) Summary: A ConGen visit to southern Tien Giang
Province provided insights into the way in which Vietnam is
handling poultry vaccinations as a means of halting the
spread of avian influenza. Tien Giang is one of two
provinces nation-wide that will serve as a starting point
for the GVN's poultry inoculation program. The Department
of Animal Health (DAH) in Tien Giang appears to have
mobilized all available provincial resources in order to
disseminate information about the vaccination drive, obtain
current figures about the poultry population in the province
and administer the vaccine in a speedy and thorough manner.
Questions may still remain, however, about the vaccine's
effectiveness. End Summary.


2. (SBU) EconOff traveled to Tien Giang Province to discuss
the vaccination program with local officials and to observe
vaccinations. According to Mrs. Nguyen Viet Nga, Director
of the Animal Health Bureau, Tien Giang was one of the
hardest hit provinces during the AI outbreak of 2003-04, and
by a directive of the Prime Minister was one of two
provinces chosen to be the first to begin inoculating
poultry. Tien Giang's DAH estimated there are 350,000
households in the province, 250,000 of which raise chickens.
Tien Giang has a poultry population of approximately 3
million, of which 65% are backyard variety or non-
commercial.


3. (SBU) In mid-July, before commencing vaccinations, the
provincial People's Committee and the DAH introduced the

program to officials at the provincial and district levels.
Next, information about the program was disseminated to the
general public through local TV and radio, and written
information was disbursed with the help of the Youth Union,
Women's Union and Farmer's Union. Local authorities
estimated that some 800 people -- or five to seven per
commune -- worked on the information campaign.


4. (SBU) Tien Giang DAH instructed district and commune
People's Committees to conduct a survey of the poultry
population using a form prepared by the Animal Health Bureau
of Tien Giang. Afterwards, a schedule was disseminated,
outlining days when specific households would be visited.
Residents were responsible for having their poultry penned
on the day of the inoculation team's visit. One to three
people make up each team. Team members wear masks and
protective gloves and carry two bottles of vaccine made in
China, H5N2 vaccine for chickens and H5N1 vaccine for ducks.
The owner is given gloves and a mask and assists the team in
rounding up the poultry and holding the birds as the vaccine
is injected in their necks. Each inoculator, during the
process of visiting approximately 15 households, uses on
average four gloves and four masks a day. Gloves and masks
are collected at the end of the day and disposed of in
landfill or incinerated. The teams give poultry owners a
document verifying the number and type of poultry
vaccinated, as well as follow-up information regarding the
health of the birds. In the future if there is to be any
culling of poultry, farmers will have to present these
documents verifying their compliance with the vaccine
program, in order to receive government compensation. The
team keeps a record of where it has been, as well as data on
the number and type of vaccines administered. Approximately
C O R R E C T E D C O P Y - REMOVES PASS LINE
-------------- --
1,200 people, including 50 DAH staff members, 129
veterinarians and contract employees are involved in
implementing the vaccination program.


5. (SBU) Tien Giang launched the vaccination program on
July 30 in three communes and plans to complete the first
round of vaccine shots in all 167 communes by the end of
August. As of August 11, 609,140 birds had been inoculated:
426,522 chickens and 182,618 ducks. The Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) determined that
only chickens that were already over 70 days old and those
that farmers intended to raise for more than 70 days were to
be inoculated, unless the farmer intended to sell the bird
during the month of August. After a bird is inoculated, the
farmer is not permitted to sell the bird for another 28
days. Tien Giang's DAH reported that at the end of the
campaign -- estimated to wrap up by the end of September --
it will have inoculated 75-90% of the birds targeted.
According to the MARD, the next provinces in southern
Vietnam scheduled to begin the vaccination program in
September will be Ho Chi Minh City, Long An and Ben Tre.


6. (SBU) Comment: The MARD's poultry inoculation campaign
has begun in Tien Giang Province as scheduled and for the
most part appears to be proceeding as planned. Authorities
in Tien Giang seem to be going to significant lengths to
ensure that people are well informed of the vaccination
program, that there is a reliable accounting of the poultry
population an that te program is implemented in a quick
and efficient manner. If the bird inoculation effort is
carried out successfully, benefits of the program will
include slowing the spread of AI, raising awareness of
farmers about AI, building trust between farmers and the
authorities, and providing lessons for future government
action on avian influenza. The program is only as effective
as its vaccine, however, and according to Intervet, a
competitor, there is little or no data available about the
effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine being used (reftel).
End Comment.

WINNICK