VZCZCXRO3064
OO RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #0552/01 0680624
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 090624Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4838
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RHFMISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHRO/US MISSION UN ROME 0058
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 000552 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR OES NANCY POWELL 
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
SUBJECT: MARCH 8 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE 
 
REF:  ABUJA 536 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  The HN51 virus is now confirmed as 
present in 11 Nigerian states, including Anambra and Rivers 
States in the south.  An outbreak of AI was reported March 8 
in three locations within the Federal Capital Territory. 
Jigawa State also is very likely to have AI, as do all of 
its neighbors.  GON officials' absence from Abuja and their 
offices has affected the government's ability to respond to 
AI, including holding coordination sessions.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The UN Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) reported 
March 7 that Nigeria now had 11 states, including the 
Federal Capital Territory (FCT), affected by the H5N1 virus. 
These states are Bauchi, Kaduna, Kano, Plateau, Katsina, 
Yobe, Nasarawa, the FCT; and Rivers, Benue, and Anambra. 
Tests by the FAO's Rome laboratory confirmed N5N1 in the 
first seven states and the FCT.  The Government of Nigeria 
(GON) announced on March 6 that H5N1 had spread to Idemili 
(Anambra State), Oturpo (Benue State), and Port Harcourt 
(Rivers State), confirmed by the Vom National Veterinary 
Research Institute, near Jos. 
 
GON reaction in Rivers, Benue, and Anambra States 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶3. (U) The UN Development Program (UNDP) reported March 7 
that the Ministry of Health had sent teams to Rivers, Benue, 
and Anambra States to train officials there in surveillance 
and disinfecting operations.  Nigeria's Avian Flu Crisis 
Management Center announced that culling of infected birds 
and the decontamination of affected areas in the three 
states was being carried out with the cooperation of the 
states' officials. 
 
¶4. (U) Abuja radio reported March 8 that an AI outbreak was 
confirmed in three locations within the FCT.  The affected 
farms are located at the Apo Legislative Quarters, and 
within the Bwari and Kuje Area Councils.  The previous 
outbreak in the FCT was in wild birds.  Although not 
confirmed, AI is almost certainly also in Jigawa State in 
the far north.  All of Jigawa's state neighbors, and Niger 
to its north, have confirmed cases of AI.  Poultry die-offs 
have been reported in and samples taken for testing from 
Jigawa, Borno, Adamwara, and Sokoto States in the north and 
from Ogun, Delta, and Abia States in the south.  Nigeria's 
system for testing animal samples for AI still has a 
substantial backlog of cases. 
 
After promises, compensation for birds begins 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) The GON launched on March 6 in Kano State its 
compensation program for poultry farmers.  The government 
paid a total of 23.5 million naira (roughly USD 182,000) to 
47 farmers in Kano.  According to press reports, some Kano 
poultry farmers complained that the government's 
compensation plan covered only birds that were culled, not 
those that died of AI, and that the level of compensation -- 
about USD 2 per bird -- was insufficient.  Nigeria's 
ministers of agriculture and information traveled to Kano 
for the compensation ceremony. 
 
Further from international donors 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) UNDP held a March 7 UNDP donor meeting in Abuja.  A 
World Health Organization official said the GON had created 
a committee that "probably" would begin work this week on 
whether the government favored bird vaccinations, and that 
this committee should make a recommendation by March 17. 
The UN Children's Fund said the GON had approved a 
communications strategy and that the government hopes to 
distribute AI educational materials in time to be passed out 
by workers participating in the March 11-12 national 
immunization day.  A CDC official said Kano State officials 
 
ABUJA 00000552  002 OF 002 
 
 
had improved their cooperation in combating AI.  A DFID 
official said the UK Government had distributed 15,000 sets 
of personal protective equipment (PPE) and that the United 
Kingdom had contributed separately just under USD 1 million 
in AI assistance.  The FAO announced that 12,000 Israeli- 
provided PPEs and other supplies given by Israel arrived in 
Nigeria on March 7. 
 
Poultry association organizes to pursue compensation 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶7. (U) The agricultural attache met March 6 with the 
president of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN).  The 
PAN is urging all Nigerian poultry producers to register 
with it and provide information on their operations, 
including production and market segment, such as their 
numbers of layers and broilers.  The PAN would provide this 
information to the GON vis-a-vis compensation plans and 
other support programs.  The government recently announced a 
new financing program to encourage agricultural production 
and will provide a subsidy of 6% to commercial bank loans 
taken out by agricultural producers.  Some large poultry 
farmers were looking to this program to restock their farms 
once they get the green light from the government to do so. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) Nigeria's agriculture minister and its chief 
veterinary officer visited Niger on the weekend of March 4-5 
to express solidarity with Niger's own struggle against AI, 
according to the agricultural attache.  This visit, however, 
took these senior officials out of Abuja at a time when 
Nigeria was far from having its own AI outbreak under 
control.  On March 8, for the fifth time in five weekdays, 
the GON's coordination meeting at the Avian Influenza Crisis 
Management Center began very late or was canceled.  This 
time, the meeting was not held because senior GON AI 
officials were "involved with" training. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The UNDP in Nigeria and donor agencies decided on 
March 7 to reduce their twice-weekly meetings to one per 
week.  This follows the GON's decision on March 6 to reduce 
its daily AI coordination meeting to three times per week. 
While GON AI officials recently have appeared at high- 
profile events to reassure the Nigerian people, it has 
highlighted the thinness of the team managing the crisis. 
When senior officials are in the field, there is no one with 
the knowledge or authority to handle coordination meetings 
in Abuja or the government's day-to-day AI operations and 
decision-making processes.  While the GON is making progress 
in some sectors in combating AI, it is losing momentum in 
others. 
CAMPBELL