AVIAN INFLUENZA: FAO DISCUSSIONS ON INCIDENT

UNCLAS ROME 00626

SIPDIS

STATE FOR IO/EDA, EUR/SE, EUR/WE, NEA/ENA, EA/SEA, OES/IHA
USAID FOR DCHA/OFDA GGOTTLIEB, PMORRIS; GH/KHILL, DCARROLL
AND BZINNER; AFR/MHARVEY, ALOZANO; EGAT A/AA JSMITH;
ANE/ACLEMENTS; EGAT/AG JYAZMAN AND JTHOMAS
USDA FOR OSEC STUMP/PENN/LAMBERT/CAINE,
FAS PETTRIE/HUGHES/CLERKIN, APHIS CLIFFORD/HOFFMAN
GENEVA FOR NKYLOH/USAID
HHS FOR OGHA (STEIGER)
BRUSSELS FOR USAID/PLERNER AND APHIS/PFERNANDEZ
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: KFLU EAGR EAID CASC SENV SOCI TBIO BG BM CB EG ID KE LA ML NI VM FAO WHO AVIAN INFLUENZA
SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: FAO DISCUSSIONS ON INCIDENT
MANAGEMENT TEAMS AND INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS

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;
(G) 06 ROME 0000 (sic); (H) 06 UNROME 0315; (I) 06 UNROME
0430


1. Summary: In discussions over the past week, FAO Senior
Veterinary Officer Juan Lubroth and Senior Operations
Officer Cristina Amaral updated us on FAO activities to
combat Avian Influenza (AI). FAO senior management is
acting to remove management constraints by: a) instituting
a special waiver to expedite the recruitment of
international staff to work on AI activities worldwide, and
b) elevating the status of the Emergency Centre for
Transboundary Animal Disease Operations (ECTAD) to work as
an operational management center. Our discussions also
garnered FAO receptiveness to USG plans to establish
incident management teams (IMTs). This is an action
message. See paras 4 and 12. End Summary.

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Institutional Constraints Resolved
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2. Responding to earlier concerns that FAO management
reforms were limiting the availability of badly needed
human resources within FAO's Animal Production and Health
Division (AGA),Juan Lubroth, FAO Senior Veterinary
Officer/Infectious Diseases, and Cristina Amaral, FAO
Senior Operations Officer, Emergency Operations and
Rehabilitation Division (TCE),told us on February 28 that
Director-General Diouf has issued an internal note
eliminating potential institutional constraints. The note
establishes a special status for an Emergency Centre for
Transboundary Animal Disease Operations (ECTAD) that will
also serve as an internal operations management center, and
institutes a waiver for the expedited recruitment of AI
technical staff and consultants, particularly retirees. We
have also learned that FAO is currently recruiting for
seven regional positions and five country positions under
this mechanism.


3. The seven regional positions will include three persons
who will form part of FAO's HQ-based rapid response team to
be deployed to the field as outbreaks occur. The remaining
regional positions will be placed in Bamako at a
decentralized regional ECTAD office to cover West Africa,
and in Cairo, Nairobi, and Dhaka. [Note: Amaral reported
that, due to heightened concerns, a consultant will travel
soon to Bangladesh to work on a plan of action with the
government for a few weeks. End Note] Of the five country
positions, the recruitment process for which is nearly
complete, one will be a central coordinator located at HQ
while the others will be posted to each of the four endemic
countries of Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia. We
will provide more information, but believe that previously
reported management constraints will not impede the FAO
from carrying out its duties to control AI.


4. Action Request: USMISSION UN ROME suggests that
talking points for Cabinet-level calls to Secretary General
Annan and Director General Diouf should include the
positive message that the removal of any management
constraints that allows FAO the flexibility to mobilize and
use resources, especially personnel resources, is welcome.

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Emergency Management/Incident Management Teams
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5. Lubroth also noted he had previously discussed with
Peter Fernandez, APHIS/Brussels, the requirements and
logistics for making a USDA person available to FAO for
coordination of emergency activities, particularly the
development of Incident Management Teams (IMT). One
possibility discussed would be to post the person to
USMISSION UN ROME with the understanding that he/she would
be physically working at FAO and reporting to Lubroth.
Lubroth has already forwarded to Fernandez a copy of the
FAO personal history form used to classify international
experience, languages and activity-coordination background
of possible candidates. FAO has been urging the United
States and other countries to make experts available at
headquarters and in the field. FAO would ideally like to
have an American to organize the IMTs in Rome. Lubroth
emphasized that the problem at this point is not money, but
bodies.


6. FAO is generally receptive to the concept of IMTs.
Lubroth sees the IMTs as virtual teams composed of 2-5
members with experience in virology, epidemiology and
communications, depending on the circumstances, who are
ready for deployment within 24 hours with an emergency kit
and passport in hand. Teams could be used for both initial
assessments and emergency response coordination.
Logistical support, including transportation, visas,
coordination with local governments, etc., would be handled
by FAO, as would field debriefings with FAO Regional
Representatives and OIE delegations where appropriate. If
FAO were to be the lead on the IMTs, there would be an
understanding among all players that the IMTs form part of
an international mission led by FAO/OIE. Lastly, during
times of relative calm, Lubroth could see FAO deploying
these teams to countries to assess other diseases such as
Nipah virus and Rift Valley fever.


8. Lubroth stressed that, for international evaluations,
the IMTs would need to use an improved version of the OIE
assessment tool. In his view, the OIE tool, which is
currently being used by national veterinary services
worldwide, is appropriate for auto-evaluations, but is not
sufficient for international evaluations. FAO has done
some in-depth work on behalf of the World Bank to improve
veterinary assessments internationally and plans to marry
the national OIE model with its efforts in this field.


9. Lubroth also floated a complementary concept to emulate
the WHO Global Outbreak Alert Response Network (GOARN),of
which FAO is a member. GOARN is a network of institutions,
such as universities or NGOs, which are called upon to
field 3-4 experts during a public health outbreak or
emergency. Lubroth believes it would be useful to
establish a GOARN-like structure specifically for trans-
boundary animal diseases.

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International Experts
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10. During a February 16 meeting with David Nabarro, UN
Special Coordinator for AI, AGA stated that one of their
immediate needs is to establish a roster of 20
veterinarians for worldwide deployment to teach culling and
environmentally safe disposal techniques. FAO currently
has a database of 171 animal disease experts, almost all
veterinarians; of these, 27 are personally known to Lubroth
to be highly competent and have been slated as possible
team leaders. Officials from the Netherlands have also
had discussions with FAO about establishing emergency
response teams and have offered to train 30 specialists
available and on call at FAO's disposal; these 30 experts
will be added to FAO's database. Presently, a Dutch
veterinarian on loan to FAO for six months is working to
develop this international roster.


11. Next steps in putting a global emergency response
capability in place with FAO coordination: FAO is willing
to organize a small meeting the week of March 6 to develop
a concrete proposal for the emergency response
mechanism(s). This would probably be followed by a larger
meeting with major donors to take whatever decisions are
necessary to implement the framework. Outside participants
for the initial meeting will probably comprise of APHIS
representatives, including Administrator Ron DeHaven, as
well as representatives from the Netherlands veterinary
service and the European Commission.


12. Action request: USMISSION UN ROME would like a
USDA/Washington go-ahead to work with FAO to set up a
planning meeting the week of March 6 to be followed by a
larger emergency coordination meeting at a date TBD. We
recognize Dr. DeHaven is charged with developing an FAO
strategy paper and would expect these meetings to be fully
consistent with that strategy.

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Other Updates
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13. Following is a synopsis of related issues also
mentioned by Lubroth:

-- During the February 16 meeting with Nabarro, he asked
that FAO send to him all documents, reports and research it
produces as well as rumors it is tracking on possible
outbreaks as these come out because all FAO predictions
have been accurate to date.

-- Egypt, which has the highest concentration of
veterinarians per capita in the world, would be interested
in collaborating on joint projects with the U.S. and the
Netherlands. The Egyptian experts' Arabic language skills
would be useful.

-- The World Bank is pushing FAO to do an AI assessment on
Ethiopia. FAO sees a more immediate need in Syria.

-- Although Bangladesh has strong veterinary services, it
and Myanmar are at high risk for current outbreaks.


14. USMISSION UN ROME will continue to cover and widely
disseminate information on FAO activities to combat and
control Avian Influenza.

Hall