Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06GUANGZHOU6174
2006-03-06 09:19:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Guangzhou
Cable title:  

New AI Case in Guangdong Grudgingly Admitted:

Tags:  KFLU TBIO EAGR PGOV CH 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8737
RR RUEHCN RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHPB
DE RUEHGZ #6174/01 0650919
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060919Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9716
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 006174 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM
STATE PLEASE PASS NIH
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, CELICO, DAS LEVINE
STATE PASS USTR
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFLU TBIO EAGR PGOV CH
SUBJECT: New AI Case in Guangdong Grudgingly Admitted:
More Cases to Come?


(U) THIS DOCUMENT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR RELEASE OUTSIDE U.S.
GOVERNMENT CHANNELS. NOT FOR INTERNET PUBLICATION.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 006174

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/CM
STATE PLEASE PASS NIH
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, CELICO, DAS LEVINE
STATE PASS USTR
USPACOM FOR FPA

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KFLU TBIO EAGR PGOV CH
SUBJECT: New AI Case in Guangdong Grudgingly Admitted:
More Cases to Come?


(U) THIS DOCUMENT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. NOT FOR RELEASE OUTSIDE U.S.
GOVERNMENT CHANNELS. NOT FOR INTERNET PUBLICATION.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: At 1130 on Saturday March 4, the
Guangdong Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) faxed a diplomatic
note (completely in Chinese with no English translation --
Consulate Guangzhou's translation in full text below)
confirming the death of a Guangzhou man after contracting
the H5N1 strain of avian influenza (AI). Subsequent
government investigations indicate that the man contracted
the disease because of his frequenting of 12 various live
poultry "wet markets" in the heart of Guangzhou. He fell
ill on February 22, and died March 2. On the same day of
the death, top Guangdong public health officials declared to
a U.S. medical military delegation that no reported AI case
(human or animal) had occurred in over a year in Guangdong
province. This misinformation comes in addition to other
reported media blackouts. It appears that it is only
because of pressure of Western media leaks, which eventually
forced mainland media to provide more detailed information
today. END SUMMARY.

Frequenting "Wet" Markets Probable Culprit
--------------

2. (SBU) According to the FAO diplomatic note, the victim
was a 32-year old, jobless, Guangzhou resident, named Lao
Moumou. He fell ill on February 22, had signs of fever and
pneumonia, and the illness developed rapidly. He failed to
respond to medical treatments and died on March 2. Xinhua
reported on March 4 that preliminary investigations revealed
Lao had spent extended periods near a live poultry
slaughterhouse in order to conduct market surveys.
Additionally, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Lao had
visited 12 different wet markets in central Guangzhou.

Government Reaction
--------------

3. (SBU) The Guangzhou Consulate only received official
confirmation of the case on March 4, when the Chinese
government sent a diplomatic note. The note, although

lacking an English translation (Guangzhou Consulate
translation provided),was significant in terms of its
detail.

Text of diplomatic note:
--------------
March 4, 2006

Diplomatic Note No. 2006-15

To All Foreign Consulates in Guangzhou:

The Guangdong Provincial People's Government Foreign Affairs
Office would like to notify all foreign consulates in
Guangzhou that a case of human infection of avian influenza
has been discovered in the Guangzhou metropolitan area. The
following are the details:

The victim, LAO Moumou, male, age 32, unemployed, is a
registered resident of Guangzhou. On 22 February, the
victim fell ill, became bed-ridden with fever, and showed
signs of pneumonia. Because his illness became serious very
rapidly and treatments were ineffective, he died at noon on
2 March. According to the findings of a preliminary
influenza study, the victim had visited agricultural markets
frequently to conduct market research before he became ill.
He had spent a lot of time at a spice store that was in the
vicinity of a stall where live chicken are slaughtered. The
Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and
Control conducted an examination of the victim and assessed
that the virus A/H5N1 was present. A specialist group from
the Guangdong Provincial Health Department, following the
Central Government's guidelines set on human infection of

GUANGZHOU 00006174 002 OF 003


avian influenza, made the preliminary conclusion that the
victim is a suspected human case of avian influenza.

After receiving the report from the Guangdong Provincial
Health Department, the leaders of the Guangdong Provincial
Government has given the situation serious attention,
requesting the all relevant departments must follow the set
guidelines to report any other human cases of avian
influenza, implement all the prevention and control
measures, ensure that all those exposed are quarantined
properly for examination, disinfect all the places where the
disease has the potential to be transmitted, so that the
disease cannot spread. The Health Department has taken the
necessary prevention and control measures, and has put the
people with close contact to the victim under examination by
medical personnel. The Provincial Health Office has tasked
the Health Department to provide a definitive conclusion on
the above case.

End Text of diplomatic note
--------------


4. (SBU) In response to discovering a human AI victim, the
Guangdong government immediately launched emergency measures
to prevent and control the spread of the disease, according
to Xinhua. Since March 1, city and district Centers for
Disease Control and the hospital that treated the patient
have taken a series of measures, including epidemiology
investigation, medically surveying the victim's close
contacts and disinfecting his places of contact. Experts
are scrambling to discover if the poultry at the Guangzhou
market where Lao may have contracted AI had been vaccinated
and where the birds came from, according to Hong Kong press
reports. The information on the Guangzhou case has been
reported to the Ministry of Health who has reported the case
to the WHO, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and a few
countries. At a press conference held March 5, Health
Minister Gao Qiang said so far no second case had been
detected. Additionally, a spokesman with the Health,
Welfare and Food Bureau of Hong Kong said on March 5 that
Hong Kong has decided to suspend live poultry imports from
Guangdong for the next three weeks (see Hong Kong septel).


5. (SBU) In addition to the quarantine and human
investigations, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports
officials have been inspecting the scene of the incident.
Yesterday the Guangdong Animal Epidemic Supervision
Institute and the Guangzhou Animal Epidemic Supervision
Institute inspected the wet markets in central Guangzhou
where the victim is believed to have frequented. Inspectors
collected samples of chicken and duck droppings from each
store in the wet markets. The test result is expected to
come out March 7.

Official Denial to PACOM Delegation
--------------

6. (SBU) Prior to the March 4 dipnote, Chinese officials
gave no other warning to the Consulate. Most notably, on
March 2, the Guangdong Public Health Department told a
visiting U.S. delegation of military health experts from the
U.S. Pacific Command that there were no cases of AI at all
whether involving poultry, wild birds, or people in the
province (for additional detail, see Guangzhou septel).

Western Press Reports Misinformation and Cover-up
-------------- --------------

7. (SBU) Initially there was no press information on the
AI case from mainland sources. In fact Hong Kong's South
China Morning Post (repeated in the Reuters item) reported
that Chinese authorities had attempted to muzzle news
coverage, pointing out that "[T]he Guangdong propaganda and
health departments jointly issued a notice to local media
not to report on the case, saying there should be no
coverage until it was confirmed." Chinese practice has been

GUANGZHOU 00006174 003 OF 003


for central health authorities to confirm cases before they
are permitted to be reported by the media or the local
health authorities. Experts familiar with the situation in
China have always maintained that there have been outbreaks
of H5N1 in birds in Guangdong province as early as the first
half of 2005, but Beijing has always denied this, according
to Reuters.

Mainland Press Reaction
--------------

8. (SBU) The first major mainland source to report the AI
case was Xinhua on March 4. In Guangdong, local papers
initially would not confirm the case as AI until March 6,
when the Guangzhou Daily published a detailed timeline of
the events. Originally medical officials believed the case
might be SARS, but refuted this on February 28. According
to their timeline, the case was reported at 11:10 p.m. to
the Guangzhou Party Committee, Guangzhou municipal
government and the Guangdong Provincial Public Health
Department, which immediately reported to the Health
Ministry.

Comment: Guangzhou -- A Hotbed for AI?
--------------


9. (SBU) It is not entirely surprising an AI case has shown
up in Guangdong. In an August 2005 Reuters article, an
expert noted that South China is the perfect breeding ground
for new diseases, and a likely starting point for a long
overdue flu pandemic because of the warm weather and the
proximity in which animals and humans live. A recent New
York Times article also pointed out that while nearly a
dozen Chinese provinces have acknowledged bird flu cases
this winter, Guangdong province -- China's wealthiest and
most populous province -- has not. On March 3, Dr. Zhong
Nanshan, a Chinese expert on SARS and AI, when answering
questions on contagious disease in China predicted that
Guangdong and Hong Kong would most likely have an AI
outbreak between February and June. Given that Guangdong
is the birthplace of SARS, there has been some concern that
AI would come to Guangdong sooner or later. As officials
scramble to quarantine those in contact with Lao, to inspect
local wet markets, and to stop the further spread of AI, it
appears that sooner or later has unfortunately become
sooner.

DONG