LITHUANIA: INTERESTED IN COMBATING AVIAN

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000946 SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/NB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID ECON PREL SOCI TBIO KSCA LH SUBJECT: LITHUANIA: INTERESTED IN COMBATING AVIAN INFLUENZA, BUT STILL STUDYING U.S. PROPOSAL REF: A. SECSTATE 164134 ¶B. SECSTATE 153802 ¶1. Summary. The Government of Lithuania is fully engaged on the Avian Influenza issue. The Ministry of Health is in the process of drafting the Government's national action plan, and Health Minister Zilvinas Padaiga told the Ambassador that the GOL would "be very supportive" of the USG's initiative. The Ministry of Agriculture has animal testing and public outreach plans in place, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considering the USG proposal. End Summary. ¶2. Ambassador raised the issue of combating Avian Influenza during a meeting with the Health Minister on September 6. ¶3. We delivered our proposal for the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza (IPAPI) to Lina Gubreviciute of the MFA's Americas Desk and to Kristina Stakyte of the Ministry of Agriculture's Food and Veterinary Department. ¶4. Gubreviciute told us that this issue was a new one for the MFA and that they had yet to consider it carefully. Drawing on reftel points, we stressed the danger that Avian Influenza poses and the importance of international cooperation to address the risks. We described the USG's IPAPI proposal and asked for the GOL's commitment to join. ¶5. Stakyte told us that Avian Influenza has not appeared in Lithuania, but that her Department is taking concrete steps to prevent its spread. She said, among other efforts, the Veterinary Department has drafted a contingency plan which the European Commission has approved; established several infectious disease control centers, including a veterinary control post near a large migratory bird roost; put in place a system for communicating with the public through mass media; provided recommendations to poultry farmers on avoiding contacts between wild birds and domestic poultry; and plans to test several hundred birds for Avian Influenza this year. Comment -------------- ¶6. The GOL is engaged on this issue. Since the Lithuanians are still in the process of drafting inter-agency action plans and the MFA has only recently taken up this issue, the GOL cannot yet commit to our proposed partnership. All indications so far, however, are favorable. We will report any additional information we receive. MULL