UPDATE ON H1N1 CASES AMONG U.S. MILITARY IN KUWAIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L KUWAIT 000574

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARP, OES/IHB, AIAG, MED
STATE PASS TO AID
HHS FOR OGHA
HHS PASS TO CDC
USDA PASS TO APHIS
AMMAN FOR ESTH HUB OFFICER
BAGHDAD FOR POL-MIL

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/06/2019
TAGS: KFLU AEMR ASEC AMED CASC KFLO TBIO KSAF KPAO
PREL, PINR, AMGT, TF, KU
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON H1N1 CASES AMONG U.S. MILITARY IN KUWAIT

REF: A. KUWAIT 530

B. KUWAIT 515

C. KUWAIT 498

D. KUWAIT 455

Classified By: DCM Alan Misenheimer for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) During an introductory meeting with the new Minister
of Health, Dr. Hilal Musaed Al-Sayer, Ambassador provided an
update on the status of H1N1 influenza cases among U.S.
military transiting through Kuwait and informed the Minister
that the USG would likely notify the WHO of additional cases
this week. Noting the Ministry's swift moves to forestall
panic when a U.S. newspaper made public 18 cases last month,
Ambassador and Minister Al-Sayer agreed on the need for
carefully managing the release of news of the 51 additional
cases. (Note: Army Central Command in Kuwait (ARCENT) has
informed the Embassy of 51 additional confirmed cases in the
past two weeks, resulting in a total of 69 confirmed cases
among U.S. military personnel transiting via Kuwait. To
date, local and international media have only reported on the
18 cases made public on May 23. End Note).

EMBASSY-MINISTRY COOPERATION PRAISED
--------------


2. (C) Responding to Ambassador's words of praise for the
professionalism of the Ministry's senior staff, Minister
Al-Sayer lauded the cooperation between the Embassy and his
Ministry. He said that senior Ministry officials had been
impressed with their visits to medical facilities at Camp
Arifjan, Camp Buehring and the Embassy. Noting that GOK and
USG health authorities have different procedures in place for
administering Tamiflu or other antiviral medications to
affected and suspected individuals, the Minister said he was
nevertheless satisfied with ARCENT's procedures for isolating
and treating suspected and confirmed cases. (Note: the GOK
has a policy of prescribing Tamiflu to all suspected and
confirmed cases, as well as to others who may have come into
recent contact with such cases. End Note). Ambassador also
urged the GOK -- which is reportedly procuring 2,000,000
additional does of Tamiflu -- to bear in mind the
intellectual property rights of the Tamiflu patent holder,
California-based Gilead Sciences, Inc., and its international
distribution partners. (Note: sources have told Post that
three of five companies bidding are not licensed to produce
Tamiflu. End Note).

JOINT AIRPORT SCREENING
--------------


3. (C) Ambassador stated that almost all of the 69 affected
individuals have recovered and left Kuwait and that only
three individuals are currently in isolation, of which only
one soldier is confirmed with H1N1 flu. Ambassador
emphasized that joint GOK-USG screening of U.S. military
personnel flying into Abdullah Al-Mubarak airbase has been in
place since May 29, with more than 7,000 troops screened with
no suspected cases. Ambassador also noted that the U.S.
military is proactively screening troops before they travel
overseas, which the Minister said he was very pleased to
hear.


4. (SBU) The Minister also said he welcomed enhanced
cooperation between the Kuwait healthcare sector and U.S. and
international health institutions. Separately, while
praising President Obama's Cairo speech as "historic" and
"fantastic," he said it was a shame that the President did
not reference Kuwait's recent parliamentary elections, not
least the election of four women to the National Assembly.

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For more reporting from Embassy Kuwait, visit:
visit Kuwait's Classified Website at:

http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Kuwa it
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JONES