AVIAN INFLUENZA: WEEKLY UPDATE ON FAO ACTIVITIES

UNCLAS ROME 000925

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, K/CRAWFORD; EGAT/AG JYAZMAN AND JTHOMAS
USDA FOR OSEC STUMP/PENN/LAMBERT/CAINE,
FAS PETTRIE/HUGHES/CLERKIN, APHIS CLIFFORD/HOFFMAN
DAKAR FOR USAID/OFDA/RDAVIS AND JSCICCHITANO
ACCRA FOR USAID/WARP HBOTTEMBERG; KCOONEY
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 FAO WHO AVIAN INFLUENZA
SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: WEEKLY UPDATE ON FAO ACTIVITIES
#3 FOR THE WEEK ENDING MARCH 24, 2006

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 UN ROME 0315; (I) 06 UN ROME 0430;
(J) 06 UN ROME 0464; (K) 06 UN ROME 0626; (L) UN ROME 0678;
(M) 06 UN ROME 0766; (N) 06 UN ROME 0860



1. Summary: Three FAO documents were shared with USMISSIN
UN ROME this week:

-- Following meetings earlier this month with several
donors, FAO and OIE (the World Organization for Animal
Health) released on March 17 the jointly prepared proposal
to strengthen response to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
(HPAI) through a crisis management center.

-- A member of FAO's Animal Production and Health Division
(AGA) shared his Back-to-Office (BTO) report on a mission to
Cambodia to give a presentation at a USDA-funded workshop.

-- A member of FAO's Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation
Division (TCE) shared his BTO report on a mission to Nigeria
to establish an emergency country unit, prepare country
project proposals, and meet with donors, including USAID.
End Summary

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FAO/OIE Proposal for an HPAI Crisis Management Center
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2. At the initiative of the United States, FAO and OIE held
meetings earlier this month in Rome with several donors,
including the United States, the European Community, the
Netherlands, Canada, France, Germany and Switzerland, on the
need to develop a crisis management center to respond to
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)(reftel L?). An
outcome of these meetings was the release on March 17 of the
jointly prepared FAO and OIE (the World Organization for
Animal Health) proposal entitled, "Strengthening the FAO
Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases
Operations (ECTAD) through the FAO/OIE Crisis Management
Centre for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and other
Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs)." The center aims to
support concerted international efforts to contain and
control of HPAI whose continued spread from Asia to Europe
to Africa indicates that current containment measures are
not sufficient, especially in developing countries that have
less than adequate veterinary service infrastructures.


3. The center will operate under the FAO/OIE agreed Global
Framework for the Progressive Control of Transboundary
Animal Diseases (GF-TADs),which includes the tripartite
partnership between FAO, OIE and WHO for the establishment
of a Global Early Warning and Response System (GLEWS) for
major transboundary animal diseases and zoonoses. It will
be based at FAO headquarters in Rome and will consist of:


A. an HPAI crisis monitoring center that will be operated
continually and assemble, analyze and communicate relevant
disease data and early warning messages (GLEWS element);


B. an operational facility to assemble and deploy rapidly
specialized, professional, international multidisciplinary
teams (International Rapid Assessment Teams and
International Rapid Response Teams),that will offer
immediate assistance to countries in designing counter-
epizootic measures to curb outbreaks; improving
surveillance, detection and control; and in meeting
reporting obligations to OIE. All actions will be guided by
the established guidelines and strategies developed by
FAO/OIE and by the relevant international animal health
standards established by the OIE.


C. a coordination facility that will act as a clearing-house
for bilateral and multilateral country support to synergize
global efforts. The international response capabilities to
country demands for rehabilitation and restructuring of the
veterinary and poultry production systems will be improved
through the deployment of assessment teams that determine
short-, mid- and long-term comprehensive requirements for
investment. Assessments will also cover economic, social
and environmental implications of the disease.


D. a dedicated space (estimated at 500 square meters) in
close association with ECTAD, composed of staff from AGA and
TCE for improved interaction between technical and
operational aspects of HPAI intervention (i.e., viral
spread/mitigation and real-time disease appraisal;
staff/team deployment and management; inter-institutional
coordination); and


E. encompasses a Command System including training modules,
publications/communications management, procedures for
qualification and certification, and supporting technology,
particularly ICT, with corresponding human support.


3. The overall cost is estimated at $10,380,000 for the
center's inception, with yearly follow-up costs of
$7,300,000. Donors have been asked to provide feedback on
the proposal by March 24. Thus far, the Netherlands has
responded, praising FAO and OIE for an outstanding document,
noting it will be of great value to the control of HPAI
worldwide and making good use of existing structures. The
Netherlands has also requested that the proposal include a
budget for consultancy fees equivalent to the total number
of consultancy days, and limiting the need for extraordinary
qualification requirements for experts. Lastly, the
Netherlands suggested that qualifications and tailor-made
terms of reference for personnel and assessments, depending
on country needs.


4. USMISSION UN ROME has been communicating with AGA and
TCE to arrange for follow-up meetings during the week of
April 3 for USDA administrative personnel to settle details
relating to deploying both short- and long-term staff to FAO
for this endeavor. In addition to meeting with AGA and TCE
staff, meetings are being arranged with FAO Human Resources,
Procurement and Administration/Finance.

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Cambodia BTO: USDA Avian Influenza and Surveillance
Workshop
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5. Vincent Martin, Rome-based Animal Health Officer, AGA,
attended the USDA-sponsored Avian Influenza and Surveillance
Workshop held in Phnom Penh from March 7-10. The workshop,
which was attended by 33 nationals from the Cambodian
National Veterinary Services, representatives from USDA,
U.S. Geological Survey, FAO, Wildlife Protection Office and
Wildlife Conservation Society, aimed to introduce, among
others, the fundamentals of Avian Influenza, review the
current understanding of wild bird populations in Cambodia
(their ecology and movement),and identify priorities and
opportunities to establish a national Avian Influenza
wildlife surveillance system in Cambodia.


6. Martin gave a presentation on the FAO perspective on wild
bird surveillance, illustrated by recent FAO wild bird
surveillance activities in Africa. He suggested that
similar studies should be implemented in Asia where the
disease is still endemic and the exact role of wild birds in
HPAI cycle is still unclear. Martin also noted that FAO is
planning to initiate a series of studies, in collaboration
with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Wetlands
International and the Free University of Brussels, that
should contribute to a better understanding of the role
played by wild birds in the HPAI epidemiological cycle.

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Nigeria BTO: USDA Avian Influenza and Surveillance Workshop
-------------- --------------


7. Mariano Gosi, TCE Consultant, traveled to Nigeria from
March 2-13 to a) assist the FAO Representative (FAOR) in
establishing the Emergency ECTAD Country Unit; and b) work
with the FAOR and the donor community to prepare a national
project proposal. Gosi reported that HPAI control
operations are being coordinated at the national level by
the Federal Department of Livestock and Pest Control
Services (FDLPCS) and at state level by the State
Departments of Veterinary Services. Government of Nigeria
(GoN) operations thus far covered four fields of action: i)
disease investigation and surveillance; ii) disease
containment (stamping out and decontamination: about 500,000
poultry heads had been destroyed in Kano and Nasarawa
States); iii) compensation to farmers (the GoN commenced
compensation payments in Kano); and iv) public communication
and awareness. Lastly, training of laboratory staff on
Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques in the National
Veterinary Research Institute in Vom continues.


8. Gosi reported that he met with several donors, including
USAID/EGAT/Abuja Michael Satin and USAID/EGAT/Washington
James Yazman to prepare and submit a $1.5 million project
document, entitled "Technical Assistance to the Government
of Nigeria for Control and Eradication of Highly Pathogenic
Avian Influenza in support of Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development." The 18-month-long
project aims to increase the capability of veterinarians to
prevent and control HPAI. It also includes a behavioral
change/bio-security component to help transform poultry
production systems and employ best practices, and a
community-based participatory rural livestock and poultry
disease surveillance system that would be integrated into
the existing epidemiology surveillance network.


9. Gosi also met with representatives from the European
Union (EU) and Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA) to discuss and submit the $450,000 standard project
proposal module, entitled "Technical Assistance to the
Government of Nigeria for Control of Highly Pathogenic Avian
Influenza in One Selected State," which complements the
federal level proposal.


10. USMISSION UN ROME will continue to disseminate widely
FAO activities to combat and control Avian Influenza.

Hall