This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000659 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA FOR FAS/OA, FAS/DLP, FAS/ICD AND FAS/ITP 
USDA ALSO FOR APHIS 
USAID REGIONAL HUB OFFICE ACCRA 
CHERYL FRENCH APHIS DAKAR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAID AMED EAGR NI AVIANFLU
SUBJECT: MARCH 24 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE 
 
REF:  ABUJA 658 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Ogun State and GON officials culled by 
March 20 more than 85,000 birds at a farm in Akute, Ogun 
State.  Culling workers did not use personal protective 
equipment.  Almost 3,700 birds were culled at a farm in Iju, 
Lagos State.  A Lagos State agricultural official denied 
AI's presence in the state.  A French Government 
veterinarian said AI will afflict Nigeria for the next 10 to 
20 years.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The managing director of Shobowale Animashaun Farms 
in Akute, Ogun State, told the agricultural attache on March 
15 that the Ogun and Government of Nigeria (GON) ministries 
of agriculture had culled poultry at the farm, and 
disinfected it.  The farm had 86,000 laying birds.  The 
farm's birds experienced high mortality rates about three 
weeks previously.  The farm's management brought in 
veterinarians for fear the outbreak could be Newcastle 
disease or cholera.  When the disease did not abate, the 
management called in Ogun State agricultural officials. 
Samples from the farm tested positive for H5N1 at the 
National Veterinary Research Institute in Vom.  Confirmatory 
testing was expected shortly from the UN Food and 
Agriculture reference laboratory in Italy. 
 
¶3. (U) A GON Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) official reported 
March 17 at the AI Crisis Management Center coordination 
meeting that 85,207 birds were culled at Ogun State's 
Shobowale Animashaus Farms -- the biggest individual culling 
operation so far in Nigeria.  Culling finished by March 20. 
A Ministry of Health (MOH) official said the farm originally 
had roughly 200,000 birds, about 120,000 of which died.  The 
farm had approximately 150 employees, who did not use 
personal protective equipment while culling poultry at the 
farm.  An MOA official said the Alhaji Wale Oshinbajo Farms 
in Iju, Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area, Lagos State, 
originally had 13,000 birds, 3,689 of which were culled. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The Lagos State agriculture commissioner told the 
agricultural attache March 15 that because Akute, the 
affected area in Ogun State, is close to Iju in Lagos State, 
he suspected the virus might have spread to Lagos State. 
The agriculture commissioner appealed to the MOA, as well as 
to the USG, for assistance in combating AI.  Foreign 
Agricultural Service employees visited the Lagos State 
Agricultural Development Authority's zonal extension officer 
(west), who said no outbreaks other than that in Akute were 
reported nearby.  The Lagos official said the suspected area 
comes under his jurisdiction and he would hear from his 
field officers if any outbreak occurred in the area.  He 
said his officers were enforcing strictly restrictions on 
the movement of birds within and across states. 
(Agricultural attache comment:  This Lagos State official 
was in complete denial of AI's presence in his jurisdiction. 
End comment.) 
 
Officials criticize lack of effective action 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Economic Officer attended the March 20 coordination 
meeting of the GON AI Crisis Management Center.  The 
meeting's chairman, an MOH official, bemoaned AI's advance 
in Nigeria, saying, "The states affected are not taking this 
as seriously as necessary."  All of Nigeria and Nigeria's 
neighbors were "now at risk."  Also, there was "definitely 
laxity" in controlling the movement of poultry products 
between states.  Nigeria was failing to implement culling 
and decontamination measures and had "allowed the disease to 
take the initiative."  A French Government veterinarian 
seconded to the Pan-African Program for the Control of 
Epizootics (PACE) agreed, declaring that AI would afflict 
Nigeria for the next 10 to 20 years.  An MOA official said 
Nigeria would start paying "this week" to poultry farmers 
its second round of compensation.  The chair said the GON 
still was deciding whether to adopt a policy of vaccinations 
for birds. 
 
AI vaccine in the works; GON pursues Tamiflu 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) The agricultural attache and agricultural specialist 
attended on March 16 an AI workshop organized by Adewura 
Farms Ltd. and Illinois-based Brookside Agra USA, in 
conjunction with the Lagos Chapter of the Poultry 
Association of Nigeria (PAN).  Adewura Farms is a major 
poultry layer operator, and Brookside Agra is a manufacturer 
of agricultural feed additives.  Keynote speakers included 
the president of Brookside Agra USA, which developed a new 
vaccine against H5N1 and was conducting field trials.  The 
company expected the National Institutes of Health to 
approve this AI vaccine in the next few weeks.  Adewura 
Farms is the sole representative of Brookside Agra USA 
products in Nigeria. 
 
¶7. (U) The MOH told the Centers for Disease Control on March 
16 that the GON provided a waiver for imports of Tamiflu. 
The MOH was working closely with Nigeria's National Agency 
for Food and Drug Administration and Control to expedite 
Tamiflu's official registration, which was not yet 
completed.  The GON reported March 15 it began procuring and 
stockpiling between 500,000 to 1,000,000 doses of Tamiflu. 
 
¶8. (U) The GON earlier suggested AI possibly had mutated in 
Nigeria since first being detected there.  The agricultural 
attache discussed this theory on March 16 with Dr. Tony 
Joannis of the Vom National Veterinary Research Institute. 
Joannis said the Vom laboratory had received no samples or 
indications that AI was changing in Nigeria. 
 
¶9. (U) One of Nigeria's largest poultry producers said March 
16 in Lagos that sales of poultry had picked up following 
their initial precipitous decline after AI was diagnosed in 
Nigeria.  Poultry sales now were down 50%, compared to the 
85% drop that occurred in the first several weeks after AI's 
diagnosis. 
CAMPBELL