VZCZCXRO6572
OO RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #0449/01 0541329
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 231329Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4709
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RHFMISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHRO/USMISSION UN ROME 0041
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC//USDP/ASD-HD//
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABUJA 000449 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR OES NANCY POWELL 
USDA FOR FAS/OA, FAS/DLP, FAS/ICD AND FAS/ITP 
USDA ALSO FOR APHIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAID AMED EAGR NI
SUBJECT: FEB 22 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU FIELD TEAM REPORTS 
 
REF:  ABUJA 441 
 
¶1. Summary.  Experts from the CDC, the Nigerian Ministry of 
Health, and the WHO visited Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, and 
Katsina States, starting on Feb. 18, to ascertain the extent 
of AI there.  On Feb. 22, they presented their findings. 
The team found Kaduna's logistical support to combat AI 
extremely weak or even nonexistent.  In Katsina, the team 
saw strong indications that AI is much more widespread than 
is being reported.  Plateau's health-care and animal-health 
infrastructure is extremely weak.  The team found the AI 
situation in Kano to be very bad, because the state 
essentially has no anti-AI resources on the ground.  A 
Ministry of Health official termed the GON's response so far 
as "inadequate at best."  End summary. 
 
¶2. Experts from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 
the Nigerian Ministry of Health (MOH), and the World Health 
Organization (WHO) visited Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, and 
Katsina States, starting on Feb. 18, to ascertain the extent 
of avian influenza (AI) there.  On Feb. 22, they presented 
their findings in Abuja to an information session chaired by 
Nigeria's MOH and its director of public health.  USG 
officials including the agricultural attache, USAID/Nigeria, 
and the CDC attended this session.  Nigeria's ministers of 
agriculture and information attended a portion of the 
briefing.  The CDC-MOH-WHO team visited state health 
facilities including hospitals, clinics, and state 
veterinary offices; UN Children's Fund offices, community 
leaders, farmers, and members of the Poultry Association of 
Nigeria.  The team's major findings were: 
 
Kaduna 
------ 
 
¶3. The team visited several health clinics and hospitals 
near the Sambawa Farm, where Nigeria's first outbreak of AI 
was recorded.  Their discussions with health workers found 
no reports of suspected human cases.  The team found that an 
integrated disease response system is in place, but that it 
is very weak.  Surveillance is mainly passive, not active, 
for both animal and human health.  Also, logistical support 
to combat AI is extremely weak or even nonexistent.  Some 
hospital health workers the team spoke with had no knowledge 
of AI.  These hospitals also had no case-management protocol 
in place for suspected cases, as well as no personal 
protective equipment (PPE) or viral medicines.  Laboratory 
workers said they knew how to take human samples, but they 
had no sample kits and did not know where to send samples. 
 
Katsina 
------- 
 
¶4. On Feb. 20, two Katsina farms reported high mortality 
rates for poultry.  One farm noticed birds dying on Feb. 6 
but did not report this before Feb. 8.  The team observed 
strong indications that AI is much more widespread in 
Katsina than is being reported.  The team found that state- 
level veterinary services lack most basic resources such as 
transportation and telephone lines.  Katsina State has about 
150 poultry farms with fewer than 1,000 birds each, and 15 
large poultry farms with more than 10,000 birds per farm. 
Team members observed no routine surveillance in place for 
either animal or human health.  No suspected human cases 
have been reported there.  The team found that Katsina 
health workers have some awareness of AI but that Katsina 
laboratory conditions were very poor. Social mobilization on 
the issue of AI has begun in Katsina, and the state is very 
engaged.  Prices for live chickens have dropped from 500 
naira to only 100 naira per bird.  There is no payment of 
compensation to farmers for their birds.  Katsina State 
officials expressed a strong desire for assistance and 
support from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.  The 
team did not observe any PPEs, medicines, or emergency- 
response requirements "on the ground."  As in Kaduna, health 
workers lacked case-management protocols and instructions on 
how handle suspected cases. 
 
Plateau 
------- 
 
ABUJA 00000449  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶5. The state government has established a response committee 
on AI.  Four farms have reported high mortality rates, and 
samples from these have been sent to the National Veterinary 
Research Institute in Vom.  The team visited farms whose 
management reported on Jan. 28 experiencing high rates of 
bird mortality.  By Feb. 2, some of these farms had lost 
their entire stock.  The team met with 24 farm workers, none 
of whom appeared to be sick.  Some of the affected farms are 
in close proximity to restaurants and cafes.  All birds at 
some farms have died, and culling operations still had not 
been completed at other farms.  Dead birds were not disposed 
of properly and instead were left in the open by the 
roadside.  Workers had no protective equipment whatsoever 
but were simply rounded up and paid to carry out culling. 
Plateau's health-care and animal-health infrastructure is 
extremely weak. 
 
Kano 
---- 
 
¶6. The AI situation in Kano is very bad.  Surveillance there 
is passive both for animal and human health.  An estimated 
166,000 birds have died so far in Kano.  The team learned 
that 51 farms in Kano have been affected.  Of these, 18 were 
depopulated by AI, and culling is taking place at the 
remainder but has not been completed.  Culling operations 
are not taking place in affected areas, even within the 
World Organization for Animal Health's recommended zone. 
Kano essentially has no resources on the ground to contend 
with the dangers of AI. 
 
AI overall in these states 
-------------------------- 
 
¶7. Overall, the teams gave a very gloomy picture of the 
situation and the GON's inadequate response to the arrival 
of AI in Nigeria.  The MOH chair summarized the government's 
response as "inadequate at best," and he said much more 
needs to be done as quickly as possible.  The MOH official 
characterized the country's response to date at the local 
level as "putting out fires" rather trying to control the 
situation.  In response to a question from the agricultural 
attache, the official confirmed Nigeria is not enforcing 
directives supposed to control the internal movement of 
poultry. 
FUREY