MARCH 24 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000659

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
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 24 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE

REF: ABUJA 658


1. (SBU) Summary. Ogun State and GON officials culled by
March 20 more than 85,000 birds at a farm in Akute, Ogun
State. Culling workers did not use personal protective
equipment. Almost 3,700 birds were culled at a farm in Iju,
Lagos State. A Lagos State agricultural official denied
AI's presence in the state. A French Government
veterinarian said AI will afflict Nigeria for the next 10 to
20 years. End summary.


2. (U) The managing director of Shobowale Animashaun Farms
in Akute, Ogun State, told the agricultural attache on March
15 that the Ogun and Government of Nigeria (GON) ministries
of agriculture had culled poultry at the farm, and
disinfected it. The farm had 86,000 laying birds. The
farm's birds experienced high mortality rates about three
weeks previously. The farm's management brought in
veterinarians for fear the outbreak could be Newcastle
disease or cholera. When the disease did not abate, the
management called in Ogun State agricultural officials.
Samples from the farm tested positive for H5N1 at the
National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom. Confirmatory
testing was expected shortly from the UN Food and
Agriculture reference laboratory in Italy.


3. (U) A GON Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) official reported
March 17 at the AI Crisis Management Center coordination
meeting that 85,207 birds were culled at Ogun State's
Shobowale Animashaus Farms -- the biggest individual culling
operation so far in Nigeria. Culling finished by March 20.
A Ministry of Health (MOH) official said the farm originally
had roughly 200,000 birds, about 120,000 of which died. The
farm had approximately 150 employees, who did not use
personal protective equipment while culling poultry at the
farm. An MOA official said the Alhaji Wale Oshinbajo Farms
in Iju, Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area, Lagos State,
originally had 13,000 birds, 3,689 of which were culled.


4. (SBU) The Lagos State agriculture commissioner told the
agricultural attache March 15 that because Akute, the
affected area in Ogun State, is close to Iju in Lagos State,
he suspected the virus might have spread to Lagos State.
The agriculture commissioner appealed to the MOA, as well as
to the USG, for assistance in combating AI. Foreign
Agricultural Service employees visited the Lagos State
Agricultural Development Authority's zonal extension officer
(west),who said no outbreaks other than that in Akute were
reported nearby. The Lagos official said the suspected area
comes under his jurisdiction and he would hear from his
field officers if any outbreak occurred in the area. He
said his officers were enforcing strictly restrictions on
the movement of birds within and across states.
(Agricultural attache comment: This Lagos State official
was in complete denial of AI's presence in his jurisdiction.
End comment.)

Officials criticize lack of effective action
--------------


5. (SBU) Economic Officer attended the March 20 coordination
meeting of the GON AI Crisis Management Center. The
meeting's chairman, an MOH official, bemoaned AI's advance
in Nigeria, saying, "The states affected are not taking this
as seriously as necessary." All of Nigeria and Nigeria's
neighbors were "now at risk." Also, there was "definitely
laxity" in controlling the movement of poultry products
between states. Nigeria was failing to implement culling
and decontamination measures and had "allowed the disease to
take the initiative." A French Government veterinarian
seconded to the Pan-African Program for the Control of
Epizootics (PACE) agreed, declaring that AI would afflict
Nigeria for the next 10 to 20 years. An MOA official said
Nigeria would start paying "this week" to poultry farmers
its second round of compensation. The chair said the GON
still was deciding whether to adopt a policy of vaccinations
for birds.

AI vaccine in the works; GON pursues Tamiflu
--------------


6. (U) The agricultural attache and agricultural specialist
attended on March 16 an AI workshop organized by Adewura
Farms Ltd. and Illinois-based Brookside Agra USA, in
conjunction with the Lagos Chapter of the Poultry
Association of Nigeria (PAN). Adewura Farms is a major
poultry layer operator, and Brookside Agra is a manufacturer
of agricultural feed additives. Keynote speakers included
the president of Brookside Agra USA, which developed a new
vaccine against H5N1 and was conducting field trials. The
company expected the National Institutes of Health to
approve this AI vaccine in the next few weeks. Adewura
Farms is the sole representative of Brookside Agra USA
products in Nigeria.


7. (U) The MOH told the Centers for Disease Control on March
16 that the GON provided a waiver for imports of Tamiflu.
The MOH was working closely with Nigeria's National Agency
for Food and Drug Administration and Control to expedite
Tamiflu's official registration, which was not yet
completed. The GON reported March 15 it began procuring and
stockpiling between 500,000 to 1,000,000 doses of Tamiflu.


8. (U) The GON earlier suggested AI possibly had mutated in
Nigeria since first being detected there. The agricultural
attache discussed this theory on March 16 with Dr. Tony
Joannis of the Vom National Veterinary Research Institute.
Joannis said the Vom laboratory had received no samples or
indications that AI was changing in Nigeria.


9. (U) One of Nigeria's largest poultry producers said March
16 in Lagos that sales of poultry had picked up following
their initial precipitous decline after AI was diagnosed in
Nigeria. Poultry sales now were down 50%, compared to the
85% drop that occurred in the first several weeks after AI's
diagnosis.
CAMPBELL