FEB 22 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU - UN MEETING

UNCLAS ABUJA 000448

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

FOR OES NANCY POWELL
USDA FOR FAS/OA, FAS/DLP, FAS/ICD AND FAS/ITP
USDA ALSO FOR APHIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAID AMED EAGR NI
SUBJECT: FEB 22 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU - UN MEETING

REF: ABUJA 441


1. (SBU) Summary. The UN Development Program hosted in
Abuja on Feb. 22 an information session on AI in Nigeria
attended by international diplomatic and aid
representatives. With some prompting, the Abuja UN Resident
Coordinator's Office agreed to create "soon" a matrix to
record international contributions, to avoid duplication of
AI assistance. The WHO representative said the United
Nations would support the GON in coming up with a plan for
its mid-term AI needs for logistics and equipment.
Reporting on cases of AI in Nigeria is proving inconsistent.
A CDC official noted that nationally in Nigeria, AI
surveillance is so passive and so poorly understood that it
is not possible currently to judge how AI is developing.
End summary.

UN officials on coordinating aid donations
--------------


2. (U) The UN Development Program (UNDP) hosted in Abuja on
Feb. 22 an information session on avian influenza (AI) in
Nigeria attended by UN, African Union, U.S, UK, French,
Japanese, and Canadian representatives. The United Nations
called for avian vaccinations to be used in Nigeria in
conjunction with other anti-AI measures. Although the
Nigerian Ministry of Health was calling for the
establishment of a network of six to seven testing
laboratories, with a reference laboratory in Abuja, the UNDP
supported there being no more than four labs, with a
reference laboratory doing a larger share of work than other
laboratories. A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) official
said there was currently a delay in shipping specimens
abroad for testing because the shipper of choice did not
currently provide this service. Negotiations were under way
with Federal Express to begin specimen-shipping service in
Nigeria.


3. (SBU) USG officials previously had receiving conflicting
information about whether the UN agencies would coordinate
the AI assistance Nigeria has requested. The World Health
Organization's (WHO) representative in Nigeria initially
said, "It's open to debate" who should coordinate foreign
contributions to Nigeria's anti-AI efforts. With some
prompting, the Abuja UN Resident Coordinator's Office agreed
to create "soon" a matrix to record international
contributions, to avoid duplication. The WHO representative
said the United Nations would support the Government of
Nigeria (GON) in coming up with a plan for its mid-term AI
needs for logistics and equipment. An official with the
UK's Department for International Development urged that
efforts to aid Nigeria against AI not come at the expense,
for example, of the country's campaign against polio,
because Nigeria's existing institutions already were "very
weak."

Conflicting details on AI cases
--------------


4. (SBU) Reporting on cases of AI in Nigeria is proving
inconsistent. A "UN Situation Report" issued Feb. 22 in
Abuja by the United Nations reported confirmed cases of AI
only in Bauchi, Plateau, Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina States,
while UN officials at the Feb. 22 meeting in Abuja set this
figure as six northern Nigerian states. The GON generally
bases its definition of a confirmed case of AI on
confirmation by its National Veterinary Research Laboratory
in Vom. A CDC official noted that nationally in Nigeria, AI
surveillance is so passive and so poorly understood that it
is not possible currently to judge accurately how AI is
developing.
FUREY