SUDAN - AVIAN FLU UPDATE #5

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 001133

SIPDIS

AIDAC
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR AF/SPG, PRM, AND ALSO PASS USAID/W
USAID FOR DCHA SUDAN TEAM, AF/EA, DCHA
NAIROBI FOR USAID/DCHA/OFDA, USAID/REDSO, AND FAS
USMISSION UN ROME
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH
NAIROBI FOR SFO
NSC FOR JBRAUSE, TSHORTLEY
USUN FOR TMALY
BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAID PREF PGOV PHUM SOCI KAWC SU
SUBJECT: SUDAN - AVIAN FLU UPDATE #5


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Summary
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1. (SBU) On May 10, 2006, the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) informed donors attending
the weekly meeting on Avian influenza (AI) that the
results received from the laboratories in Rome confirmed
an outbreak of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian
influenza in Sudan. The Government of National Unity
(GNU) has not yet officially informed the Sudanese
public. Over 200 chicken farms have been decimated to
date with the outbreak still continuing at a fast pace in
the Khartoum area. Donors, UN, and several government
representatives met on May 14 to form a technical task
force to manage coordination, information dissemination,
as well as provision of technical and financial inputs.
End Summary.

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Outbreak update
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2. (SBU) On May 10, 2006, FAO/Khartoum convened the AI
weekly meeting of donors to brief on the AI situation in
Sudan. Representatives of the Sudan Poultry Association
also attended. FAO informed the donors that the
reference laboratory in Italy confirmed on May 4 the
presence of H5N1 strain of AI in Sudan. Despite these
important test results, the government has yet to tell
the public officially of the outbreak. According to the
representatives from the Poultry Association, losses due
to culling of birds and destruction of poultry products
and poultry feed are now estimated at USD 8.5 million.
Total economic losses are estimated at over USD 40
million. Some 30,000 workers are also out of work, as
over 200 farms have been destroyed. The disease is still
spreading in the farms around Khartoum, with high
mortality among chickens and cullinQof chickens
continuing. Four hundred farms around Khartoum remain
unaffected. There are now also reports of the disease
from northern Gizera State. FAO and USAID AI experts are
alarmed at the rapid spread of the virus, and deeply
concerned that it is invading well set-up and protected
facilities.

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Response Operations
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3. (SBU) The control measures taken are completely
inadequate to contain the disease. There is no
quarantine being imposed on infected farms, and workers
culling the birds are doing so without the benefit of
protective clothing. The limited protective clothing
that is available is being reserved for government
officials who are overseeing the operations. The issue
of compensation has not been addressed by the government;
this could encourage the owners of the farm not to report
dead chickens and hence allow the virus to spread.

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Coordination
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4. (SBU) On May 14, FAO convened government
representatives, USAID, the EC, and the World Bank, as
well as UNICEF, WHO, and FAO to review and agree upon the
terms of reference for an FAO-led task force that would
provide technical oversight as well as coordination of
donor inputs for the country-wide AI response. Neither
the Ministry of Animal Resources (the ministry charged
with coordinating the GNU's response and the entity most
concerned at this point) nor the Ministry of Health, sent
representatives (Comment: it was unclear whether this
was due to an e-mail glitch or a sign of disinterest on
the ministry's part. FAO is following up. End comment.)
The Ministry of Science and Technology sent a
representative, as did the Poultry Association. The next
meeting of the task force will be on May 20, 2006, when

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the terms of reference will be finalized and circulated.
USAID is a permanent member, as is the EC. In the
meantime, the government's National Task Force has not
met for the past month nor has the operational task force
set up at the Ministry of Health.

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Contributions
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5. (SBU) USAID has deployed Dr. Gavin MacGregor-Skinner
for three weeks to provide support to FAO in its work
with the Ministry of Animal Resources and the Poultry
Association. USAID also expects that 1,500 sets of
personal protective equipment (PPE) will arrive by May 19
for the response operations in the North; an additional
500 will be delivered to Juba for preparedness purposes.
Three hundred sets have already been delivered to
Khartoum, of which 100 are to be sent to Juba. USAID has
also committed USD 200,000 towards the FAO proposal
submitted to USAID/W to assist in ramping up the
management of the outbreak. No other donor has yet
contributed to the AI response in Sudan.


6. (SBU) FAO has deployed an AI expert for one month. WHO
has deployed NAMRU-3 to investigate the suspected human
case, but has now returned to Cairo. UNICEF is leading
work on a communications strategy that invlves preparing
posters, radio spots, and other information materials.
All UN agencies are drawing from their own resources
pending specific donor contributions.

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Southern Sudan - Preparedness
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7. (SBU) The task force agreed that the terms of
reference would cover the needs of GOSS in addition to
the GNU. As such, a representative of the GOSS should be
invited to participate in the task force and come to
Khartoum for meetings. It was also agreed that although
there would be a national strategy, due to the different
nature of the poultry industry in the south (backyard
poultry raising versus large-scale farming, which
prevails in the north),the GOSS would have to have a
response plan tailored to its needs.

HUME