INDONESIA - OCTOBER 20 AVIAN INFLUENZA (AI) UPDATE

UNCLAS JAKARTA 012781

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/IET, MED/DASHO/EMR AND MED
DEPT FOR G/AIAG AND OES
DEPT PASS TO USDA/FAS/DLP/HWETZEL AND FAS/ICD/LAIDIG
DEPT ALSO PASS TO USDA/FAS/FAA/DYOUNG AND USDA/APHIS/ANNELLI
DEPT ALSO PASS TO USAID/ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL
DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABHAT/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH
PARIS FOR FAS/AG MINISTER COUNSELOR
BANGKOK FOR APHIS/CARDENAS, RMO, CDC, USAID/RDM/A
CANBERRA FOR APHIS/EDWARDS
ROME FOR FAO
NSC FOR JMELINE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID KFLU
SUBJECT: INDONESIA - OCTOBER 20 AVIAN INFLUENZA (AI) UPDATE

REF: A) Jakarta 11582 B) Jakarta 12253


1. (SBU) Summary. The Government of Indonesia (GOI) released 2007
budget information on October 19 but has not yet finalized its AI
spending allocations in the Ministries of Health (MOH) and
Agriculture (MOA). Coordinating Minister for Peoples' Welfare
Aburizal Bakrie convened an interagency meeting on October 20 to
discuss latest efforts to control the spread of the virus and AI
spending. The GOI is unlikely to provide additional information
concerning avian influenza funding until GOI offices re-open on
October 31 after the Idul Fitri holiday. NAMRU-2 reports two new
fatal cases confirmed for the H5N1 virus since Ref B. As of
October 20, NAMRU-2 data reflect 72 confirmed cases with 55
fatalities. End Summary.

GOI Announces 2007 Budget Numbers
--------------


2. (U) Parliament passed the 2007 budget on October 17. Although
the GOI released budget allocations for each ministry, the
Ministry of Finance has not finalized spending plans for
individual programs, including the GOI's anti-AI efforts. The GOI
administers most avian influenza funding through the MOH, MOA,
and Ministry of Finance, but other agencies such as the
Coordinating Ministry for Peoples' Welfare (overseeing the
National AI Committee) receive AI funding too. The various
ministries will now review their priorities in conjunction with
the Finance Ministry to determine allocations of their budgets to
various programs, including avian influenza.

07 Budget Allocation By Ministries/
Agencies (in trillions of Rupiah)
-------------- --------------
Ministries/ 2006 2007 % Increase
Agencies Budget Budget
-------------- --------------
Health 14.2 17.1 20.4
Finance 6.6 9.4 42.4
(includes reserves)
Agriculture 6.2 8.7 40.3



3. (SBU) Dr. Tri Satya Putri Naipospos (Dr. Tata),Vice Executive
Secretary to the National Committee on Avian Influenza Management

SIPDIS
and Pandemic Alert (KOMNAS) reports that KOMNAS has not yet
received detailed information about the 2007 planned avian
influenza funding levels. She noted, however, that Vice
President Kalla has repeatedly pledged that total avian influenza
funding will match if not exceed 2006 levels. Dr. Tata told us
on October 19 that Coordinating Minister Ir. Aburizal Bakrie
would convene an October 20 interagency meeting to discuss latest
efforts to control the spread of the avian influenza virus at
which participants may discuss funding issues. However, she
noted information about the meeting is unlikely to be made
available until GOI offices reopen on October 31 after the Idul
Fitri holiday.

NAMRU-2 Human AI Case Profile
--------------


4. (SBU) NAMRU-2 reports two new, fatal human H5N1 cases since
Ref B. The first case involves a 12 year-old boy from South
Jakarta who reported to a local hospital on October 7.
Initially diagnosed with dengue, the boy developed shortness of
breath and was transferred to Bintaro hospital on October 12 and
then Sulianti Sarosa Infectious Disease Hospital. Doctors placed
the patient on a ventilator the same day, but he died on October

14. The second case involves a 30 year-old female from Sigedang
village, Madukoro, Bajarnegara, Central Java. She reported to a
clinic on October 11 after six days of fever, cough, sore throat
and shortness of breath. On October 12, she was transferred to
Banyumas Hospital where she died October 13. Both patients had
contact with dying poultry.


5. (SBU) In addition to these deaths, a critically ill 67-year
old female cited in Ref B died on October 15, after spending nine
days in the hospital. This case was of clinical note as the
woman showed symptoms of encephalitis although NAMRU2 found
evidence of no other pathogen with the exception of H5N1.


6. (SBU) NAMRU-2 data indicates the following AI-related case
profile as of October 20:

-- Number of laboratory confirmed (positive PCR and/or serology)
human AI cases: 72, of which 55 have been fatal (case fatality
rate of 77 percent).

-- Number of probable AI cases 3 (2 deaths, 67%).

-- Number of cases awaiting analysis at the U.S. CDC: 3.

-- Number of possible untested AI cases under investigation (last
30 days): approximately 28.

Note: NAMRU-2 data corresponds with MOH data but may vary at
times with AI case figures presented on the official World Health
Organization (WHO) website, which usually lags NAMRU-2 data by
one week. The WHO website, last updated on October 16, notes 72
human AI cases in Indonesia with 55 deaths. WHO figures can be
accessed at www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza.

PASCOE