Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KATHMANDU138
2009-02-20 09:22:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPALI GOVERNMENT DECLARES AVIAN INFLUENZA

Tags:  PGOV EAGR EAID CASC SOCI AMEDI KFLU NP 
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VZCZCXRO7813
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKT #0138/01 0510922
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 200922Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9788
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6811
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA 2431
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 2854
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 4467
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC 0043
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000138 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EAGR EAID CASC SOCI AMEDI KFLU NP
SUBJECT: NEPALI GOVERNMENT DECLARES AVIAN INFLUENZA
CONTAINED

REF: KATHMANDU 000063

Summary
-------

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000138

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EAGR EAID CASC SOCI AMEDI KFLU NP
SUBJECT: NEPALI GOVERNMENT DECLARES AVIAN INFLUENZA
CONTAINED

REF: KATHMANDU 000063

Summary
--------------


1. (U) On February 20, the Ministry of Agriculture and
Cooperatives announced that another case of H5N1 avian
influenza has been detected. The announcement came 11 days
after the Ministry declared that Nepal,s first outbreak of
H5N1 avian influenza has been &contained and controlled8
and slightly more than a month after the outbreak was first
announced at an emergency cabinet meeting. Since the
Government of Nepal (GON) launched its control efforts,
nearly 30,000 birds in the affected area in the southeastern
part of the country, along the border with India, have been
culled, according to government officials. Despite the
success of its control efforts, the GON cautioned that
further outbreaks are still possible because the illegal
poultry trade continues to flourish, and it acknowledged that
current resources would be insufficient for controlling
future outbreaks if they occur simultaneously in several
areas.

Government Declares Avian Influenza "Contained"
-------------- --


2. (U) On February 20, local media reported that the
Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives had announced that
the H5N1 strain of avian influenza had been detected in a
chicken collected in a village in Jhapa district, which is
where the initial outbreak occured. The bird reportedly had
been imported from India. On February 9, Pravakar Pathak,
director general of Livestock Services at the Ministry said,
&We have controlled and contained the bird flu outbreak.8
Nepal,s first outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza was announced
at an emergency cabinet meeting on January 16. The
announcement was made after laboratory tests confirmed that
six of seven dead chickens found about a week earlier in
Mechinagar Municipality in Jhapa district, on the southeast
border with India, died of avian flu. The GON immediately
declared the area within a three-kilometer radius of the
Mechinagar customs station a &Bird Flu Emergency Area8 in
which all poultry would be culled, all poultry products would
be destroyed and all poultry farm tools and equipment
disinfected. A surveillance zone extending 10 kilometers

beyond the emergency zone was also established.


3. (U) Working closely with the World Health Organization,
the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
(FAO),USAID and other international agencies, the GON began
its control efforts in the affected area on January 18.
Culling operations were carried out by 10 Rapid Response
Teams, each comprising five members who had been trained by
the GON with support from FAO and USAID. After culling
operations were completed in the emergency zone, they were
expanded into the neighboring surveillance zone. GON
officials reported that, as of January 23, 29,620 birds had
been culled in the two zones, including 23,947 chickens.
Nearly 5,000 eggs and 345 kilograms of poultry feed had also
been destroyed.


4. (SBU) There is some concern that the GON has been
underreporting the extent of the outbreak. Untl February 20,
it had reported no infections beyond the original six
confirmed deaths. However, international agencies working
with the GON report had provided USAID with information that
indicates there have been 10 to 14 confirmed cases of H5N1
avian influenza, not including the latest announced by the
Ministry. Three persons had been kept under observations for
a week on suspicion of contracting the deadly disease, but no
cases of avian flu have been diagnosed in humans, according
to the Department of Health Services and WHO. The GON
declared avian flu &contained8 even as its control
operations continued in the surveillance zone. Many areas in
the zone can only be reached on foot. Control operations
have also been slowed by a lack of trained personnel and the
nature of the poultry farming in Nepal, where the majority of
birds are raised in backyards, not on commercial farms. The
GON,s aim is to declare the affected zones a &Bird Flu Free
Area,8 which, according to international health standards,
means no remnant of the avian influenza virus should be found
in the area within 90 days of the initial outbreak, or about
two months after the GON's announcement that the outbreak has

KATHMANDU 00000138 002 OF 002


been "controlled and contained."


Further Outbreaks Still Possible
--------------

5 (U) During the February 9 press conference at which avian
influenza was declared &contained and controlled,8 Dr.
Manash Banarji, coordinator of the Avian Influenza Control
Project under the Ministry of Health and Population,
cautioned that further outbreaks remain possible. He pointed
out that, even though the GON had banned the production,
consumption, sale and transportation of poultry products in
Jhapa district, the illegal poultry trade continues to
flourish due to the porous border with India. Dr. Banarji
added that its recent experience has left the GON well
positioned to combat future outbreaks. However, in a recent
media interview, Livestock Services Director General Pathak,
said that if outbreaks occur simultaneously in more than two
places, "then our resources and manpower are inadequate." He
explained that government faces a "critical shortage" of
manpower, especially veterinarians.

Outbreak Leaves Poultry Industry Reeling
--------------

6 (U) The recent out of avian influenza has left Nepal,s NR
17-billion (USD $220 million) poultry industry reeling.
Iswore Sharma, President of Poultry Farming Entrepreneurs
Association, told the media that poultry production has
plummeted by 70 percent since the GON announced the avian
influenza outbreak.


POWELL