AI - PRESS CONFERENCE DISPUTING HUMAN-TO-HUMAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002432 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, G/AIAG AND OES USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/MSTLOUIS/ABDOO AND HHS/NIH GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID SUBJECT: AI - PRESS CONFERENCE DISPUTING HUMAN-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION 1.(U) Minister of Health Fadilah Supari convened a press conference on September 3 to dispute recently published findings from a Seattle study describing limited human-to-human transmission from a 2006 cluster of Avian Influenza cases in Sumatra. Although the Ministry of Health (MOH) distributed talking points to press conference attendees, Supari strayed off message during the question and answer period. She alleged that the authors timed the study's publication to create public alarm in advance of the Climate Change Conference of Parties 13 (COP-13) planned for Bali in December. Indonesian press ran stories in a number of English and Bahasa Indonesian newspapers. Press quoted Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Abizural Bakrie as also refuting the study. End Summary. -------------- MINISTER ALLEGES CONSPIRACY -------------- ¶2. (U) At a September 3 press conference, Minister of Health Fadilah Supari rejected findings from a recently published study in the U.S. Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases that found statistical evidence of limited human-to-human transmission from a May 2006 cluster of cases in Sumatra. Researcher Ira Longini and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle wrote the paper, noting that they had examined the 2006 cluster of bird flu cases and had found evidence of limited human-to-human transmission. MOH staff distributed Supari's talking points (see para. 5),which claimed that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta supported the Minister's claim that no human transmission has occurred. ¶3. (SBU) Embassy sources present at the conference noted that the Minister strayed from her talking points. She claimed that the study was published in order to derail the climate change conference scheduled for December in Bali. "There must be a conspiracy against Bali as an international tourist destination. This must be not a coincidence. In Bali we will have a very significant conference on climate change, where developing countries are fighting their rights on the global warming issue. This paper must be part of conspiracy against it!" ¶4. (U) Numerous English and Indonesian newspapers reported on Supari's press conference although only one paper (Media Indonesia) described the alleged conspiracy to derail the Bali conference. The paper quotes Supari as saying "The study was conducted in 2006, but it was not published until this month. I think this is not a mere coincidence." Other newspapers focused primarily on the talking points provided at the press conference. Press also quoted Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Abizural Bakrie as also refuting the study. -------------- TRANSLATION OF PRESS CONFERENCE STATEMENT -------------- -------------- ¶5. (U) The following is an informal translation of the Minister's talking points provided at the press conference. --There have been news reports recently about the study done by Ira Longini and team from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and University of Washington, Seattle, Washington that used statistical methods to conclude limited human-to-human transmission in the Karo cluster, North Sumatra. --Medically, a study with a statistical approach should not be used. Responding to the results of the study, I stated here that until today, avian influenza cases in Indonesia are still being transmitted from birds to humans. There has been no human-to-human transmission. --This has been confirmed by the sequencing results of H5N1 virus from Indonesia - including the latest bird flu case in Bali - done by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, United States, which has proven that there has been no JAKARTA 00002432 002 OF 002 human-to-human transmission. --According to the World Health Organization (WHO),to prove if there has been any human-to-human transmission of the bird flu virus, epidemiological and virological signs should be noted. --The statistical analysis that was done by Dr. Longini's study is interesting, but does not offer anything new. Until now, there is no test to confirm or prove human-to-human transmission. --The study was not a virological, clinical or epidemiological analysis. Thus WHO concludes that broad and sustained, human-to-human transmission of H5N1 viruses has not occurred anywhere in the world, including in Indonesia. Therefore the world remains on phase 3 of the pandemic phase - which means transmissions remain from animal to human. -- The study indicates more efforts are needed to prevent a pandemic, including intensifying public communications, increasing control in animals (particularly in poultry) and accelerating the process of developing a realistic pandemic preparedness plan. In general, the study will motive us to work harder and more rapidly. Hume