FIJI CONFIRMS ITS FIRST TWO CASES OF H1N1

UNCLAS SUVA 000264

SIPDIS

BANGKOK FOR REO AND AID/RDMA

JAKARTA FOR RMO

E.O 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO CASC AMED KFLU FJ
SUBJECT: FIJI CONFIRMS ITS FIRST TWO CASES OF H1N1


1. Fiji recorded its first two confirmed cases of Influenza A/H1N1
over the weekend. According to press reports, a 36-year-old male
resident of Fiji, who returned home from Melbourne on June 10,
sought treatment from a private physician after he became ill and
after family in Australia advised him that they had tested positive
for the virus. Press reports quote Health Permanent Secretary Dr.
Sala Saketa, as saying: "A sample was taken [on the night of June
19] and immediately sent to the national testing laboratory, and the
result was confirmed in the early hours of [June 20]." According to
Dr. Saketa, the man is being treated with Tamiflu while being
quarantined in his Nadi home. His family is also under home
quarantine.


2. Newspapers on June 21 reported that a 32-year-old man, who is a
close friend of Fiji's first patient, is now also being treated and
quarantined in his Nadi home for seven days after testing positive
for H1N1. Divisional Medical Officer West Dr. Tharid Ali told the
press that health officials have been tracing those who came into
close contact with the two confirmed cases. He said there have been
67 samples tested at the national influenza laboratory at Mataika
House since the global outbreak of the virus. Only these two have
been confirmed.


3. Fiji has been bracing for this eventuality for weeks, with the
press reporting on even suspected cases. Suva-based Secretariat of
the Pacific Community (SPC) Communicable Disease and Surveillance
Specialist Dr. Narendra Singh told us on June 9 that the reality of
H1N1 had energized Fijian authorities and other Pacific island
governments. Influenza pandemic planning efforts, which had been
languishing in the wake of an H5N1 threat that never materialized,
suddenly seem relevant and important, he said, and officials are now
focused on adapting and filing gaps in existing plans.


4. Current screening procedures at Fijian ports of entry rely on
self identification, reports from flight crews, and direct
observation of arriving passengers by health officials. Fiji does
not employ thermal scanners. In addition to screening arriving
passengers, health officials have conducted an awareness campaign
for local health care providers to strengthen domestic surveillance
efforts. Aggie Dawainavefia, WHO coordinator for the Influenza
Program based at Mataika House, the Fijian Ministry of Health
Virology Laboratory, told us that Fiji performs real time RTPCR for
Influenza A (H1N1). (The lab had run out of the reagents necessary
for the PCR testing but received an additional supply from U.S. CDC
in late May.) According to Dawainavefia, although Fiji's lab is
able to determine if a specimen is positive for H1N1, samples are
sent to Melbourne for reconfirmation.

McGann