MARCH 15 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ABUJA 000593

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

USDA FOR FAS/OA, FAS/DLP, FAS/ICD AND FAS/ITP
USDA ALSO FOR APHIS
USAID REGIONAL HUB OFFICE ACCRA
CHERYL FRENCH APHIS DAKAR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAID AMED EAGR NI AVIANFLU
SUBJECT: MARCH 15 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE

REF: ABUJA 576


1. Summary. The Vom laboratory confirmed an outbreak of
H5N1 in Anambra State, but the state agriculture
commissioner rejected this finding. The AI outbreak in Ogun
State continues, but the GON has not heard from its Ogun
field team. An Ogun official said containing the outbreak
would be a "tough task." A GON official said there was no
active surveillance in Ogun and that information on
confirmed AI cases was being hoarded. The official said the
GON needed to contact Benin and Cameroon on the AI issue,
and that Niger had accused Nigeria of exporting AI to it.
The CDC and WHO reported progress on human-surveillance AI
programs. End summary.


2. Economic officer and Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
officers attended the March 10 and March 13 coordination
meetings at the Government of Nigeria's (GON) Avian
Influenza (AI) Crisis Management Center. A GON official
said Mar. 10 that epidemiological teams joined agricultural
teams in the field to investigate AI outbreaks in Benue,
Rivers, and Anambra States.

Anambra declares AI present -- on a voice vote
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3. A team member who returned from Anambra said that state's
agriculture commissioner was "in denial" despite the
affected poultry farm having a 100% mortality rate. Samples
from this farm were sent to the Vom National Veterinary
Research Institute, which confirmed a diagnosis of H5N1 --
but the agriculture commissioner rejected this diagnosis.
The Anambra governor, who had not been aware of an AI
outbreak in the state, sent his chief of staff, who calmed
the situation. State officials attending a meeting on the
outbreak held a "voice vote" and declared AI present in
Anambra. The GON official said an Anambra official wanted
to cull all birds within 3 km of the infected site but had
no vehicles or logistical support, and that the agriculture
commissioner would not allocate funds. He termed Anambra
"quite weak and deficient" against AI.


4. A GON veterinary official said March 13 that Anambra now
had an AI technical committee that meets daily. He said no
culling had been carried out, and "I think they need help"
at the one farm affected to date. The chair said, "I'm very
concerned" that information on confirmed AI cases was
available but was not being circulated, including by the
University of Ibadan's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
Instead, "Information was being hoarded."


5. A representative of the Poultry Association of Nigeria
(PAN) said the team should have appealed immediately to
Abuja for funds, but the meeting chairman said Nigeria was a
federal system, so the state concerned was in charge. The
GON could not give federal funds to states but only items
provided by donors, the chair said. A GON official denied
the PAN representative's request that the PAN participate in
the Anambra investigation. In discussing reports of large
numbers of chickens being raised in and near homes, a GON
official said field teams had not found more than 40 to 50
chickens per house, and that a total of 500 chicken at a
house was not possible.


6. The chair said that that following assistance from the
CDC, the Vom laboratory now could test animal samples for
H5N1. Nigeria's AI protocol previously did not permit the
owner of an infected flock to receive a laboratory report
confirming AI. Now, on the day on which the Vom laboratory
confirms AI, it informs the AI Crisis Management chairman
and the state governor concerned. The chair called on the
GON to distribute Tamilflu to reassure the population.


7. The chair said additional compensation for birds had been
calculated as follows, with no payment date specified:
Nasarawa State, 517 farmers to receive a total of 3.14
million naira (about USD 24,000) because Nasarawa largely
had rural and backyard farmers; 21 million naira for six
Bauchi farmers; 1.017 million naira for six Katsina farmers;
and additional money for Kano State -- 12 million naira for
11 farmers for culling carried out after Feb. 27. The chair
said the GON had put aside 100 million naira for
compensation "to get people to report sick birds" early in
the process.

AI situation in Ogun is worrisome, but unclear
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8. The chair said on March 13 that the government had not
received a report from its field team in Ogun State --
although the GON announced March 9 that Ogun was confirmed
positive for the H5 virus. Ogun's health commissioner said
the outbreak there occurred on an Akute-Oja farm with 90,000
birds, but test results were not back from Italy. Ogun's
government had not yet alerted the press and was awaiting
confirmation to avoid causing "panic." Containing the Akute-
Oje outbreak was a "tough task" because the area was
congested, built up rapidly, and had no roads. She had no
additional information on the outbreak and hoped the federal
government would have information for her.


9. The chair said the Vom laboratory confirmed H5N1 at an
Akute-Oja farm, and he called for stern measures to be
taken. He said culling was "apparently" occurring at two
locations in Akute-Oja. A Ministry of Agriculture official
had no figures for Ogun bird die-offs but said bird
mortality there had worsened significantly. The chair said
unhappily, "There is no active surveillance in Ogun; we are
still waiting for farmers to tell us" what is happening. He
asked the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to confirm
reports of AI in the southwest. The chair said Nigeria's
major AI problem areas were in Ogun, because of population
density, and in Nasarawa, because of Nasarawa officials'
lack of cooperation.

CDC and WHO report progress on surveillance
--------------


10. A CDC official said a CDC team returned March 12 from
three days in Kano State laying the groundwork for a sero-
survey of poultry workers, persons employed at poultry
markets, and veterinarians. The CDC developed a
questionnaire and will take blood samples. The survey seeks
300 participants. If 300 are enrolled, no positive AI tests
within the group would mean its members had a positive rate
no higher than 1.5 percent. The CDC is awaiting approval
from the health minister and the Kano State health
commissioner. The chair said the GON might provide funds
"this week" for the sero-study and to establish a database
of people at the highest risk for AI. He said the GON had
formed teams and was awaiting funding to send teams to the
field for three to four weeks. GON field teams would
piggyback on the CDC's Kano team and on a similar World
Health Organization (WHO) team in Kaduna State.


11. A WHO official said the WHO was concentrating on AI in
Kaduna State and in five or six other states. The WHO would
work on case definitions and emphasize reporting and
registering persons through the WHO, while building on what
the CDC has achieved. The WHO will work on enhanced
surveillance of cases in Kaduna, to check for H5N1 in at-
risk humans. It would carry out community-based veterinary
and wild-bird and poultry surveillance based on weekly
surveys. A CDC official said the CDC had made
recommendations on a GON communications strategy that has
identified ways in which AI messages can be fine-tuned so as
to not frighten people.


12. The chair said the GON would identify facilities for
human cases for isolation and quarantine, and would begin
drills and simulations by the week of March 20-24. The GON
would identify one hospital in each state for human
isolation cases, and specify public buildings and schools
for quarantine cases. The chair said that at the direction
of President Obasanjo, AI workers were exempted from the
requirement that Nigerians stay home for part or all of
March 21-25 to be counted in the national census.

13. The chair said the GON needed to contact Benin and
Cameroon on the AI issue, and that Niger had accused Nigeria
of exporting AI to it, despite migratory birds' travel
between the two countries.
CAMPBELL