Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ABUJA2539
2006-09-26 14:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:
NIGERIA AVIAN FLU: ANIMAL-SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
how-toVZCZCXRO0684 PP RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHHM RUEHJO RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHPB RUEHRN DE RUEHUJA #2539/01 2691410 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 261410Z SEP 06 FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7280 INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC RHFMISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0028 RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP/ASD-HD// RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002539
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
USDA FAS WASHDC FOR FAA/RANDY HAGER
USDA FOR APHIS/JOHN SHAW
USDA FOR WAYNE MOLSTAD/OSEC
USAID/W FOR AFR/WA ANGELA LOZANO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU AMED EAGR EAID NI AVIANFLU
SUBJECT: NIGERIA AVIAN FLU: ANIMAL-SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
REF: ABUJA 2535
ABUJA 00002539 001.2 OF 002
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 002539
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
USDA FAS WASHDC FOR FAA/RANDY HAGER
USDA FOR APHIS/JOHN SHAW
USDA FOR WAYNE MOLSTAD/OSEC
USAID/W FOR AFR/WA ANGELA LOZANO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU AMED EAGR EAID NI AVIANFLU
SUBJECT: NIGERIA AVIAN FLU: ANIMAL-SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
REF: ABUJA 2535
ABUJA 00002539 001.2 OF 002
1. Summary. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the
Ministry of Agriculture launched on Sept. 21 their EU/USG-funded
program for active animal surveillance of the avian influenza (AI)
in Nigeria. Training would precede fieldwork, which would cover all
36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and be overseen by the
Abuja office of the FAO/Pan-African Program for the Control of
Epizootics. The plan is for 208 veterinarians to carry out the
surveillance. The Minister of State for Agriculture was more
optimistic than was the Chief Veterinary Officer about Nigeria's
achievements to date against AI. End summary.
2. At a ceremony at the UN House in Abuja, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)
launched on Sept. 21 the European Union (EU)/USG-funded FAO-MOA
program for active animal surveillance of the avian influenza (AI).
An FAO official said it was not clear whether Nigeria had controlled
AI's spread, or whether AI's extent just had not been detected. The
new surveillance program would operate in all 36 states and the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and would collect samples for
laboratory diagnosis from commercial farms, live bird markets, and
selected villages. Overall coordination would be carried out by the
Abuja office of the FAO/Pan-African Program for the Control of
Epizootics. The plan is for 208 veterinarians to carry out the
surveillance. The EU provided $546,000 to fund the program. The
U.S. Government has allocated $1 million, to be provided through
USAID, to support the active-surveillance program. This amount,
documents for which await FAO officials' final signature, will
complement the EU's donation and in particular will support an AI
information center and strengthening testing laboratories'
capabilities. Field staff would be trained Sept. 23-29, field work
would be conducted Oct. 11-Dec. 11, laboratory diagnosticians would
be trained Oct. 24-26, and an assessment of Nigeria's laboratory
capabilities would finish by Dec. 29.
3. The Minister of State for Agriculture reviewed AI in Nigeria and
said a surveillance team "stumbled" on the first case of AI in the
country at the Sambawa Farms in late January 2006. He asserted,
however, that Nigeria's anti-AI efforts since then had been a
success, with AI confirmed in "only" 14 states and the FCT. He said
by "all indications," the virus was "not very active" in Nigeria
except in Lagos State and AI so far had affected fewer than 1
million birds. The Government of Nigeria (GON) had approved 400
million naira ($3.13 million) for "immediate" action against AI and
for paying compensation to poultry farmers. The government's goal
was for Nigeria to be declared "AI free."
4. The Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) said Nigeria had 140 million
poultry birds, of which 25% were in the commercial sector, 15% in
the semi-commercial sector, and 60% raised by backyard farmers. He
said the GON did not know how AI entered the country - whether
through wild migratory birds or through infected birds smuggled into
Nigeria. The GON was attempting to identify the country's first
(index) case of AI, which might not have been at the Sambawa Farms,
through comprehensive contact tracing. The CVO termed Ogun State's
outbreak of AI "no longer active" because it occurred in July. Only
Lagos State was a "current-outbreak state." He said AI likely had
affected more than 1 million birds in Nigeria.
5. The CVO reviewed whether the GON should support poultry
vaccinations and said these, which are being administered
unofficially, "must stop for now." Vaccinations must not be
supported or ruled out flatly; rather, evidence must support the
case for using or not employing vaccinations.
6. The CVO said surveillance must be taken down to the state level
to be effective. He said the GON must increase: the participation
of private veterinarians and private laboratories in fighting AI;
controls on the movement of poultry and on live poultry markets;
communication within the veterinary profession and its professional
bodies; subjecting the government's AI response plan to public
scrutiny and debate; pressing Nigeria's states to view efforts
against AI as an issue of good government and to fund these; and
"constantly" reminding citizens of the dangers of AI. The CVO did
not praise Nigeria's accomplishments against AI effusively but
ABUJA 00002539 002.2 OF 002
rather termed these "reasonable achievements."
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
USDA FAS WASHDC FOR FAA/RANDY HAGER
USDA FOR APHIS/JOHN SHAW
USDA FOR WAYNE MOLSTAD/OSEC
USAID/W FOR AFR/WA ANGELA LOZANO
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU AMED EAGR EAID NI AVIANFLU
SUBJECT: NIGERIA AVIAN FLU: ANIMAL-SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
REF: ABUJA 2535
ABUJA 00002539 001.2 OF 002
1. Summary. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the
Ministry of Agriculture launched on Sept. 21 their EU/USG-funded
program for active animal surveillance of the avian influenza (AI)
in Nigeria. Training would precede fieldwork, which would cover all
36 states and the Federal Capital Territory and be overseen by the
Abuja office of the FAO/Pan-African Program for the Control of
Epizootics. The plan is for 208 veterinarians to carry out the
surveillance. The Minister of State for Agriculture was more
optimistic than was the Chief Veterinary Officer about Nigeria's
achievements to date against AI. End summary.
2. At a ceremony at the UN House in Abuja, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)
launched on Sept. 21 the European Union (EU)/USG-funded FAO-MOA
program for active animal surveillance of the avian influenza (AI).
An FAO official said it was not clear whether Nigeria had controlled
AI's spread, or whether AI's extent just had not been detected. The
new surveillance program would operate in all 36 states and the
Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and would collect samples for
laboratory diagnosis from commercial farms, live bird markets, and
selected villages. Overall coordination would be carried out by the
Abuja office of the FAO/Pan-African Program for the Control of
Epizootics. The plan is for 208 veterinarians to carry out the
surveillance. The EU provided $546,000 to fund the program. The
U.S. Government has allocated $1 million, to be provided through
USAID, to support the active-surveillance program. This amount,
documents for which await FAO officials' final signature, will
complement the EU's donation and in particular will support an AI
information center and strengthening testing laboratories'
capabilities. Field staff would be trained Sept. 23-29, field work
would be conducted Oct. 11-Dec. 11, laboratory diagnosticians would
be trained Oct. 24-26, and an assessment of Nigeria's laboratory
capabilities would finish by Dec. 29.
3. The Minister of State for Agriculture reviewed AI in Nigeria and
said a surveillance team "stumbled" on the first case of AI in the
country at the Sambawa Farms in late January 2006. He asserted,
however, that Nigeria's anti-AI efforts since then had been a
success, with AI confirmed in "only" 14 states and the FCT. He said
by "all indications," the virus was "not very active" in Nigeria
except in Lagos State and AI so far had affected fewer than 1
million birds. The Government of Nigeria (GON) had approved 400
million naira ($3.13 million) for "immediate" action against AI and
for paying compensation to poultry farmers. The government's goal
was for Nigeria to be declared "AI free."
4. The Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) said Nigeria had 140 million
poultry birds, of which 25% were in the commercial sector, 15% in
the semi-commercial sector, and 60% raised by backyard farmers. He
said the GON did not know how AI entered the country - whether
through wild migratory birds or through infected birds smuggled into
Nigeria. The GON was attempting to identify the country's first
(index) case of AI, which might not have been at the Sambawa Farms,
through comprehensive contact tracing. The CVO termed Ogun State's
outbreak of AI "no longer active" because it occurred in July. Only
Lagos State was a "current-outbreak state." He said AI likely had
affected more than 1 million birds in Nigeria.
5. The CVO reviewed whether the GON should support poultry
vaccinations and said these, which are being administered
unofficially, "must stop for now." Vaccinations must not be
supported or ruled out flatly; rather, evidence must support the
case for using or not employing vaccinations.
6. The CVO said surveillance must be taken down to the state level
to be effective. He said the GON must increase: the participation
of private veterinarians and private laboratories in fighting AI;
controls on the movement of poultry and on live poultry markets;
communication within the veterinary profession and its professional
bodies; subjecting the government's AI response plan to public
scrutiny and debate; pressing Nigeria's states to view efforts
against AI as an issue of good government and to fund these; and
"constantly" reminding citizens of the dangers of AI. The CVO did
not praise Nigeria's accomplishments against AI effusively but
ABUJA 00002539 002.2 OF 002
rather termed these "reasonable achievements."