TURKEY AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE

UNCLAS ANKARA 000482 SIPDIS STATE ALSO FOR STUDZINSKI AND LANGE USAID FOR TROSTLE, BLANCHET AND CARROLL HHS FOR WSTEIGER/PBUDASHEWITZ FAS FOR OCRA/FLEMINGS AND CURTIS, OSTA/WETZEL FAS PASS FSIS AND APHIS VIENNA FOR APHIS BAGHDAD FOR FAS BRUSSELS FOR APHIS/FERNANDEZ GENEVA FOR HEALTH ATTACHE ROME FOR US MISSION TO FAO SIPDIS E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: KFLU ETRD EAGR KPAO TBIO AMED CASC EAID SENV TU SUBJECT: TURKEY AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE REF: ANKARA 354 AND PREVIOUS ¶1. As of February 28, the H5N1 strain of avian influenza has been detected in 12 locations of four districts in Batman province, including one area with wild birds, and in six locations of two districts in Diyarbakir province. There have been a total of 283 dead birds with confirmed cases of H5N1, 179 in Batman and 104 in Diyarbakir, between February 9 and 28. ¶2. In Batman, the first district with 80 confirmed cases of H5N1 on February 9 has not yet had another case. The second district has had confirmation of new cases about 6-7 days apart (two cases on February 14, then ten on February 21, 49 cases on the 22nd, and then ten cases on the 28th). The third district also had four new cases in a new village, about six days after its first seven cases in another village. There are about 20 days between when H5N1 was confirmed in the first district and in the fourth district of Batman. (There were 20 confirmed new cases in the fourth district.) In most locations of Batman, all affected birds were chickens; in two villages, turkeys were confirmed as having contracted the virus. ¶3. Diyarbakir had 20 confirmed cases in its first district on February 14. Two other villages in that same district had a total of 66 confirmed cases about 7 days later. There were 18 confirmed cases in a second district of Diyarbakir, also about 7 days after the first district had its first cases. In most locations of Diyarbakir, all affected birds were chickens. In one village, geese and roosters were struck by the virus. ¶4. Almost 20,000 poultry have been culled in the two provinces of Batman and Diyarbakir: 17,170 in Batman and 2,476 in Diyarbakir. Extensive surveillance throughout the country continues and there have been no other cases outside of those two provinces. ¶5. Last week, three Turkish veterinarians sponsored by USDA returned from the Ames, Iowa HPAI diagnostic training course with very positive comments about the program. One of the participants, along with another veterinarian from Ankara, will also attend the OIE vaccination course in Italy at the end of March. FAS and APHIS are working on other projects to train Turkish veterinarians in AI-related lab techniques. As of February 27, almost 20,000 poultry had been culled in the two provinces of Batman and Diyarbakir 17,170 in Batman and 2,403 in Diyarbakir. The H5N1 strain of avian influenza has been detected in 11 locations of four districts in Batman province and in six locations of two districts in Diyarbakir province. Extensive surveillance throughout the country continues and there have been no other cases outside of those two provinces. ¶6. More than 30 officials from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are currently attending an FAO-organized six-day conference on AI Surveillance at Ankara Eklik Laboratory. Topics include principles of surveillance, on-going activities in participating countries, and surveillance for Avian Influenza in both domestic poultry and wildlife, and outbreak investigation methodology. The organizers stated aim is to develop a common methodology that can be adopted in each participating country. Wilson