VZCZCXRO5720
OO RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHPB
DE RUEHAK #0118/01 0090931
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 090931Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2501
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 0511
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 1792
RUEHKB/AMEMBASSY BAKU 1271
RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST 0767
RUEHCH/AMEMBASSY CHISINAU 0308
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 1445
RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA 0935
RUEHSI/AMEMBASSY TBILISI 2922
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 1457
RUEHYE/AMEMBASSY YEREVAN 1142
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0041
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0240
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 9536
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1394
RUEHAST/USOFFICE ASTANA 0039
RUEHZN/EST COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000118 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USAID FOR TROSTLE, BLANCHET AND CARROLL 
HHS FOR WSTEIGER/PBUDASHEWITZ 
FAS FOR ITP/MACKE/THOMAS, CMP/DLP/WETZEL, FAS/JDEVER 
FAS PASS FSIS AND APHIS 
VIENNA PASS APHIS 
BRUSSELS PASS APHIS/FERNANDEZ 
GENEVA PASS HEALTH ATTACHE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: TBIO AMED EAID CASC SENV EAGR KPAO TU
SUBJECT:  Turkey Avian Influenza Update - January 7 
 
Ref:  ANKARA 104 AND PREVIOUS 
 
This is an Action Request. 
 
ANKARA 00000118  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1.  Summary. As of mid-day January 7 there are no new deaths 
or additional confirmations of human cases.  Nine or ten sub- 
provinces are under animal quarantine. Though there are 
multiple reports of dead birds in other regions, none have 
been confirmed as AI, with the possible exception of two 
wild ducks in Nallihan, west of Ankara.  Press reports the 
GOT has banned bird hunting throughout Turkey. The WHO/ECDC 
team departed for the affected region in eastern Turkey 
morning of January 7. The Turkish authorities are fully 
cooperating with the team, which aims to make a preliminary 
assessment of critical needs and recommendations by Tuesday, 
January 10.  Personal protective gear, bird incineration 
equipment, laboratory equipment, surveillance and public 
information materials seem to be critical needs. Embassy 
requests Washington agencies assess capacity to respond to 
Turkey's needs, in coordination with international agencies. 
End Summary. 
 
--------------- 
Cases in Humans 
--------------- 
 
¶2.  There are no new deaths from Avian Flu beyond the deaths 
confirmed on January 6. Nor are there new confirmations of 
H5N1.  The Istanbul laboratory told us that it had results 
on 24 samples (representing 12 cases) received from eastern 
Turkey, all of which came out negative for AI.  The Ankara 
laboratory is processing 26 samples, representing 5 cases in 
Erzurum and 17 new cases from Van.  There are reports of 
people with flu-like symptoms but none yet confirmed to have 
AI.  Of these, only a group of cases in Yalova (near 
Istanbul) are outside eastern Turkey and these people 
recently came from eastern Turkey. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Poultry Outbreaks and Government Actions 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Press is reporting that 10 sub-provinces are now under 
animal quarantine (we have not yet been able to confirm the 
tenth sub-province from official sources.) Outside these sub- 
provinces, there continue to be new reports of sick birds 
however they have not been confirmed as AI, with the 
possible exception of two migratory ducks found dead in 
Nallihan (in Ankara province about an hour west of Ankara). 
Press is reporting that the Agriculture Minister has said 
that the two ducks in Nalihan were confirmed as AI. 
According to a visiting WHO official, authorities are now 
actively going around looking for and culling poultry in the 
affected regions.  Press has also reported that the 
Environment Ministry has banned bird hunting throughout 
Turkey. 
 
------------------------- 
International Cooperation 
------------------------- 
 
¶4. We spoke early January 7 with the lead WHO official, 
 
ANKARA 00000118  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Caroline Brown, just before she and the rest of the team 
left from the Van region.  In addition to ECDC and WHO 
officials, Brown confirmed the team included a 
representative FAO/OIE (Office of International Epizootics). 
Overall, the team was pleased with the cooperation they are 
receiving, including extensive briefings from government 
ministries and time spent with the Ankara laboratory.  Brown 
had a generally positive view of the quality of the 
laboratories and was pleased the GOT had agreed to have a 
WHO H5 specialist come to Ankara to begin running tests in 
parallel.  The Ankara lab is running RT-PCR (real time 
polymerase chain reaction) tests and Brown thought the 
results looked reliable.  WHO has offered-and Turkey has 
accepted-setting up an incident command center in Van. 
 
¶5. Brown said it was too early for WHO to draw conclusions 
on case definitions (i.e. criteria used in determining 
whether a case is AI).  She felt strongly that there was 
room for improvement on surveillance.  The small backyard 
flocks are a particular challenge.  Human surveillance has 
been mostly self-referrals up to this point (sick patients 
seeking treatment).  The MOH has distributed brochures to 
the affected areas but WHO did not yet have a translation to 
evaluate the text.  (Note: Press is reporting that Turkish 
students report cards, sent home Friday, included a message 
on how to prevent AI).  Separately, Mr. Gunel Rodier from 
WHO/Copenhagen is due in Ankara to work on elaborating and 
mobilizing an emergency assistance budget. Prime Minister 
Erdogan announced January 6 that the GOT would allocate an 
additional 7 million New Turkish Lira (about $5.2 million) 
to address the AI problem.  Brown said that, for now, Turkey 
has adequate Tamiflu supplies having recently ordered 
additional shipments.  Press is reporting that Roche has 
shipped an additional 100,000 full courses of treatment, of 
which 10,000 are a donation. 
 
-------------- 
Critical Needs 
-------------- 
 
¶6. Though preliminary, Brown identified a number of areas in 
which she believed there were critical needs for assistance: 
 
--Public Education.  Getting the message out to people 
including remote farm populations on appropriate measures. 
(Note: Post understands USAID has developed community 
communication materials which could be available for 
translation and dissemination at village level. End Note.) 
 
--Hospital equipment, particularly ventilators. 
 
--Personal protective equipment(PPE), such as gowns masks 
goggles gloves, for both animal and healthcare workers. 
 
--Training for epidemiology.  WHO has been working with 
Turkey on a project to establish improved laboratory 
epidemiology capacity, but this is not in place yet. 
 
From our earlier conversations with Ministry of Agriculture 
officials, there is a need for portable incinerators for 
disposable of culled animals. Given the vast numbers now 
 
ANKARA 00000118  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
requiring culling, this need has undoubtedly increased. 
 
-------------- 
Action Request 
-------------- 
 
¶7. Embassy requests Washington agencies assess USG capacity 
to respond to Turkey's needs, so that the USG can join the 
assistance efforts of international organizations.  We 
propose that the Department make a public statement of 
support for the Turkish authorities' efforts to address this 
problem along with a commitment to provide critical 
assistance. 
 
 
McEldowney