Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06JEDDAH267
2006-04-05 13:21:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Jeddah
Cable title:  

Avian Flu: Jeddah Slow on Outreach, Otherwise

Tags:  TBIO KFLU SA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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DE RUEHJI #0267/01 0951321
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 051321Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL JEDDAH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9006
INFO RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 6357
RUEHZM/GCC COLLECTIVE
RUEHAM/AMEMBASSY AMMAN 0221
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 0264
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000267 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU SA
SUBJECT: Avian Flu: Jeddah Slow on Outreach, Otherwise
Taking Proper Steps

Ref: Jeddah 212

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JEDDAH 000267

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO KFLU SA
SUBJECT: Avian Flu: Jeddah Slow on Outreach, Otherwise
Taking Proper Steps

Ref: Jeddah 212


1. Summary: Jeddah Municipality has an interagency
committee on avian flu, a hotline, an emergency plan, and
has taken action to control backyard poultry and shop front
slaughtering of live birds. They admit that their public
outreach strategy is late but otherwise Jeddah appears to be
taking the proper steps to prevent and prepare for avian
flu. Jeddah has had no confirmed cases of H5N1 avian flu.
End summary.

-------------- --------------
City Services Bureau Sits on Interagency Committee
-------------- --------------


2. Amman-based Regional Environment, Science, Technology
and Health (ESTH) Officer and Jeddah Econ Officer met Jeddah
Deputy Mayor for Services Khaled Akeel and Dr. Dheya Al-
Othmany in Jeddah on March 18 to discuss health issues, and
particularly avian flu, in the municipality. Mr. Akeel is
responsible for public health and environmental issues in
Jeddah, but is not involved with medical care. His
department also supervises food safety, trash removal and
pollution.


3. The city has created an interagency committee on bird
flu, Akeel said, and there is also good cooperation with the
Mecca Regional Governorate. This committee meets once a
week, he said. The committee has developed an emergency
plan that includes directives on culling and on quarantine.
The Ministry of Agriculture's Jeddah regional office has a
lab capable of testing for H5N1 avian flu.

-------------- --------------
Backyard Flocks and Local Slaughtering Biggest Concerns
-------------- --------------


4. Mr. Akeel said that there are no confirmed human or
animal cases of H5N1 avian flu but of course they are
concerned. He noted Jeddah's location on the Red Sea flyway
and its large local population of crows as possible vectors.
Mr. Akeel was not sure if a local agency is monitoring H5N1
in wild birds. His biggest worry is the many small-scale
poultry flocks scattered in residences and backyards around
the city. Fifty to sixty kilometers outside the city, there
are industrial scale poultry farms, but they have
professional management, veterinarians, and appropriate
health precautions such as protective clothing, boots and
foot washes in place.


5. The Ministry of Agriculture must license poultry farms,
he said. Two weeks earlier, regional and municipal health
and agriculture authorities cooperated to identify and close
49 illegal small farms, he said, under an order from the
governor of Meccah province. During the operation,
officials destroyed 35,000 chickens. Reftel reports on
newspaper coverage indicating bulldozers smashed the coops
before culling the birds, leaving thousands of homeless
chickens roaming the area.


6. The KSAG issued an order two and a half years ago that
all local live slaughterhouses should be closed by August

2006. After that, only frozen or chilled chicken meat can
be sold; there will be no on-the-spot slaughtering. Akeel
spotlighted local live slaughterhouses as a particular
source of concern. A recent sweep found that of 204 poultry
butcheries in the city, only 38 were found to be in
compliance with health standards. All will be closed by the
August 2006 deadline, he said.

-------------- -
Public Outreach Plan is Late - Hotline Is Open
-------------- -


7. Akeel acknowledged that the avian flu committee's public
outreach plan was late, but noted its importance, and said
that it was in progress. Jeddah has put in a hotline to
field calls and questions from citizens. He said that the
hotline gets "all kinds" of calls, that levels of public
awareness are high but that the people are not sure what to
do in specific situations, e.g. finding dead birds.


8. COMMENT: The hotline may exist, but apparently is also
the victim of the poor public education campaign. On March
14, Jeddah ACS officer received an inquiry from an American

JEDDAH 00000267 002 OF 002


living in one of Jeddah's major residential compounds.
While discussing the availability of consular services, the
American described a problem caused by an increasing number
of dead pigeons being found around the compound. He said
that compound management had been informed numerous times
about the problem. None of the parties involved were aware
of the existence of a "hotline." END COMMENT.

--------------
Dengue Fever Also a Concern
--------------


9. Jeddah has seen a jump in the number of cases of dengue
fever during the last two months, and the city is looking
for a contractor to manage mosquito control. Post will
submit a cable addressing Dengue Fever in the near future.


10. Comment: Post is defining its emergency contingencies
and tripwires per Department guidance, and is responding to
inquiries from Amcits on avian flu.

GFOELLER