AVIAN INFLUENZA: FAO UPDATE ON NIGERIA

UNCLAS ROME 000428 SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/EDA, EUR/SE, NEA/ENA, EA/SEA, OES/IHA USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA GGOTTLIEB, PMORRIS; GH/KHILL AND DCARROLL; AFR/MHARVEY, ALOZANO; EGAT A/AA JSMITH; ANE/ACLEMENTS USDA FOR OSEC STUMP/PENN/LAMBERT, FAS PETTRIE/HUGHES/CLERKIN, APHIS CLIFFORD/DUVERNOY GENEVA FOR NKYLOH/USAID BRUSSELS FOR PLERNER PARIS FOR GCARNER USEUCOM FOR ECJ4 VIENNA PASS APHIS CAIRO PASS APHIS FROM THE U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR EAID CASC SENV SOCI TBIO NI UP AM AJ GG FAO WHO AVIAN INFLUENZA SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: FAO UPDATE ON NIGERIA REF: (A) 05 ROME 3949; (B) 05 ROME 3320; (C) 05 ROME 2979; (D) 05 ROME 1142; (E) 05 ROME 3976; (F) 06 ROME 0087; (E) 06 ROME 0000; (F) 06 UNROME 0315 ¶1. From February 8-10, USMISSION UN Rome staff met with Juan Lubroth, FAO Senior Veterinary Officer, to discuss the current situation in Nigeria. ¶2. In these discussions, Lubroth reported the following: -- Two children are suspected of having contracted the virus. A WHO assessment arrives in Nigeria during the evening of February 10th and will release the test results of the two children. -- The two FAO veterinarians stationed in-country have been deployed, one to the North and the other fixed in Abuja. The latter conducts daily afternoon conference calls with FAO/Rome. --APHIS sent Dakar-based Cheryl French to Nigeria on February 11th. -- FAO Regional Rep from Bamako arrived on February 11th. -- FAO Animal Health Officer from Accra and FAO Animal Health Officer from Rome will arrive on February 13th for two days. The latter will be the team leader for in-country assessments. Meanwhile, the former will stay in Nigeria for two days and then travel to neighboring countries to review the situation and determine if there is H5N1 spillover. FAO would like APHIS' Cheryl French to participate on the regional mission, which should end up in Mali. FAO is willing to pay for Dr. French if APHIS agrees. -- Two veterinarians from South Africa will also arrive and form part of the FAO/OIE team to conduct assessments. -- The main objective now is to control poultry movements in Kano and Kaduna. FAO will receive 1,000 personal protective equipment (PPEs) from the U.S. to assist in this effort. -- FAO has again indicated that there is no need to send an inter-agency USG assessment team now. -- What FAO lacks is manpower, i.e., seconded veterinary officers, and has asked for USG assistance in this area. -- FAO plans to set up a regional Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Disease Operations (ECTAD) in Cairo or Accra. ECTAD will help improve surveillance and response in West Africa. ¶3. Earlier on February 8th, Dr. Lubroth confirmed that the FAO/OIE reference lab in Padua had positively identified H5N1 in poultry samples sent via FAO from Nigeria. Lubroth stated FAO was tracking the disease mid-week upon the release of an OIE broadcast. He also noted that surveillance worked well in Nigeria because of the extensive unilateral trust fund (UTF) project being run by FAO. The UTF has fisheries, livestock, crop and transboundary animal disease (TAD) components and includes an extensive network of 109 model sites that monitor animal diseases. FAO hopes to triple the number of sites to 327. ¶4. US MISSION UN ROME will continue to cover and widely disseminate information on FAO activities to combat and control Avian Influenza. HALL