BURMA: AI UPDATE - AUGUST 30, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 RANGOON 001249 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS; PACOM FOR FPA; UDSA FOR FAS/PECAD, FAS/CNMP, FAS/AAD, APHIS; BANGKOK FOR USAID (JOHN MACARTHUR),APHIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID AMED PGOV PREL CASC TBIO KFLU BM SUBJECT: BURMA: AI UPDATE - AUGUST 30, 2006 REF: A. STATE 111495 ¶B. RANGOON 623 RANGOON 00001249 001.2 OF 003 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Burma has reported no new cases of Avian Influenza (AI) since a February/March 2006 poultry outbreak, which was contained in April. Donors, including USAID, support targeted WHO and FAO activities to improve local capacity to address AI. Although the GOB continues to cooperate with international donors, inadequate coordination within the GOB and in villages and townships has raised doubts that programs can be implemented properly in rural areas. End summary. Current Situation: No New Cases -------------- ¶2. (U) The GOB has not reported any evidence of Avian Influenza in humans or animals in Burma for the past four months. On August 16, Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department (LBVD) officials confirmed to us that their last recorded case of animal AI appeared in Burma on April 8. In late April, LBVD began to carry out regular serosurveillance of poultry in the thirteen townships affected by the February-March AI outbreak, as well as at Rangoon markets. All of the 13,000 blood specimens collected were tested at veterinary labs in Rangoon and Mandalay and were negative for H5N1. ¶3. (SBU) On August 18, an LBVD contact told us in confidence that three child deaths in the town of Tharyawaddy, Bago Division, that were attributed to dengue fever were actually due to AI. Emboff followed up on August 21 with Dr. Cho Cho Su, veterinary officer for LBVD, who traveled to the area to investigate the deaths. She, however, confirmed that all three were caused by dengue fever. WHO's coordinator for AI in Burma, Dr. Jum Coninx, told us that she also tried to investigate the Bago deaths and had not found any evidence that the cases were related to AI. Coninx observed that local town authorities also called in Ministry of Health (MOH) personnel to investigate, so it did not appear that there were any efforts to cover up an outbreak. Since poultry deaths in the same town were attributed to Newcastle disease, Coninx encouraged GOB authorities to use further tests to confirm this, and WHO continues to follow the situation closely. ¶4. (SBU) Coninx reported to us on August 22 that the GOB has now established Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) in every one of the country's 130 administrative districts, and that the Rangoon medical lab can now diagnose H5N1 in humans. WHO closely monitors how all assistance is being used, she said. MOH and LBVD continue efforts to improve coordination. Both share information freely with international donors. Donor funding will address many of the shortcomings in the GOB's ability to respond effectively to an outbreak, particularly in upgrading surveillance capability and improving weak lab and hospital treatment capabilities. Although WHO continues to encourage the GOB to convene a coordinating body of all stakeholders, including government representatives, UN representatives, and bilateral donors, the GOB has yet to do so. Coninx said that future WHO funding will be used to support a coordination subcommittee to formalize meetings and enhance such cooperation. Training -------------- ¶5. (U) Ministry of Health epidemiologists Dr. Win Htin and Dr. Theingi Nyunt attended the US-sponsored APEC Seminar on AI and the Australia/Singapore-sponsored Pandemic Response RANGOON 00001249 002.2 OF 003 Exercise Workshop on August 14-17 in Singapore (ref A). The Australian government funded their travel. ¶6. (U) Dr. Kyi Mar Aung, Assistant Director at LBVD, attended the July 2006 U.S. Department of Agriculture's diagnostic training course in Ames, Iowa. Kyi Mar Aung told APHIS Regional AI Coordinator Ned Cardenas during his most recent visit to Burma that that the workshop was valuable but too short. She conducted a training session with her colleagues upon her return to share information gained in Ames, and she has requested follow-up training in Burma. Dr. Cardenas encouraged her to identify specific areas for follow-on training. Dr. Cardenas also enlisted support from the FAO to run an LBVD epidemiology course and awareness raising campaign directed at poultry farmers. Donor Funds Flowing -------------- ¶7. (U) Human Health: WHO's Coninx said donor support has allowed included upgrades at two hospitals, funded by the Japanese Grassroots Fund, and a pandemic preparedness tabletop exercise planned for September. Part of the $1 million in Asian Development Bank (ADB) funds committed to fight AI in May (ref B) will be used to upgrade the isolation rooms at designated hospitals and to support the rapid response teams, she said. ¶8. (U) Coninx described WHO's current activities supported by $110,000 in USAID funding: a lab mission from the Thai National Institute of Health/National Influenza Center to provide training to local lab personnel in Burma in August and in Thailand in September. USAID funds to WHO allowed LBVD and Ministry of Health participation in a July AI workshop in Rangoon, and at a train-the-trainer workshop for GOB Rapid Response Teams (RRT) in Bangkok the same month. WHO will adapt the RRT training modules and use USG and ADB funds to provide RRT training countrywide in October. WHO will also bring an epidemiologist from Bangkok in September to work on an early warning system with the Central Epidemiology Unit. WHO and Ministry of Health officials expressed their gratitude for USG support. ¶9. (U) Additionally, WHO is preparing to accept delivery of half of the 4,500 Personal Protective Equipment sets (PPEs) supplied by USAID, with control of the other half to be managed by FAO. According to Coninx, storage and accountability for the PPEs will be among the issues discussed at a WHO-sponsored workshop in late September. We will store the PPEs in our Embassy warehouse until WHO and FAO storage arrangements are finalized. A contracted specialist will lead the workshop on the logistics of stockpiling supplies, as well as advising the GOB, WHO, and FAO on pandemic containment planning. ¶10. (U) Cardenas outlined APHIS's proposed campaign to raise awareness among small poultry farmers. Coninx noted that the bulk of work at the grassroots level must be done by local and international NGOs. So far, she said, only CARE has begun AI work in the villages, so getting funds and GOB approval for additional NGO projects is an important next step. ¶11. (U) Animal Health: LBVD Deputy Director Dr. Ohn Kyaw recently provided emboffs an updated list of international donors and projects addressing AI in animals. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) donated approx. $50,000 for immediate response assistance, and China has offered one million yuan (about $129,000) for PPEs, vehicles, RANGOON 00001249 003.2 OF 003 and lab equipment. The Japanese Grassroots Fund will provide $168,000 to upgrade five veterinary labs. Dr. Ohn Kyaw expressed LBVD's appreciation for the support FAO has received from the US government. ¶12. (SBU) Describing larger-scale international funding, FAO Representative Tang Zhengping told Cardenas that the Japanese Trust Fund will sign an agreement to provide UNICEF, FAO and OIE with approximately $3 million from a regional $10 million program to support public awareness and epidemiology capacity building. Australia (AusAID) agreed in June to provide Aus$1 million (about US$770,000),which FAO and WHO will split. FAO will use the funds to recruit a national consultant, assistant, and clerk, and to procure equipment and vehicles for LBVD and FAO. The Thai government continues to supply Human Resources support, and the World Bank may provide $1 million from the new AI Prevention Facility, according to Tang. ¶13. (SBU) Comment: The GOB has displayed uncharacteristic cooperativeness and openness on working with foreign donors on AI issues. Our contribution has opened the door for other donors to step in with valuable contributions and WHO continues to play the lead role in coordinating donor contributions and government responses. However, coordination among ministries and between the national government and local leaders, also not the norm here, needs to improve to diminish doubts about the ability of lower-level officials and technicians to implement programs. In addition to upgrading national facilities and training personnel, donors should continue to urge the regime to upgrade the monitoring of poultry flocks and allow NGOs to play an enhanced role in public awareness and training. End comment. VILLAROSA