VZCZCXRO8737
RR RUEHCN RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHPB
DE RUEHGZ #6174/01 0650919
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060919Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9716
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 GUANGZHOU 006174 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM 
STATE PLEASE PASS NIH 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN, CELICO, DAS LEVINE 
STATE PASS USTR 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU TBIO EAGR PGOV CH
SUBJECT:  New AI Case in Guangdong Grudgingly Admitted: 
More Cases to Come? 
 
 
(U) THIS DOCUMENT IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED.  PLEASE 
PROTECT ACCORDINGLY.  NOT FOR RELEASE OUTSIDE U.S. 
GOVERNMENT CHANNELS.  NOT FOR INTERNET PUBLICATION. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  At 1130 on Saturday March 4, the 
Guangdong Foreign Affairs Office (FAO) faxed a diplomatic 
note (completely in Chinese with no English translation -- 
Consulate Guangzhou's translation in full text below) 
confirming the death of a Guangzhou man after contracting 
the H5N1 strain of avian influenza (AI).  Subsequent 
government investigations indicate that the man contracted 
the disease because of his frequenting of 12 various live 
poultry "wet markets" in the heart of Guangzhou.  He fell 
ill on February 22, and died March 2.  On the same day of 
the death, top Guangdong public health officials declared to 
a U.S. medical military delegation that no reported AI case 
(human or animal) had occurred in over a year in Guangdong 
province.  This misinformation comes in addition to other 
reported media blackouts.  It appears that it is only 
because of pressure of Western media leaks, which eventually 
forced mainland media to provide more detailed information 
today.  END SUMMARY. 
 
Frequenting "Wet" Markets Probable Culprit 
------------------------------------------ 
¶2. (SBU) According to the FAO diplomatic note, the victim 
was a 32-year old, jobless, Guangzhou resident, named Lao 
Moumou.  He fell ill on February 22, had signs of fever and 
pneumonia, and the illness developed rapidly. He failed to 
respond to medical treatments and died on March 2.  Xinhua 
reported on March 4 that preliminary investigations revealed 
Lao had spent extended periods near a live poultry 
slaughterhouse in order to conduct market surveys. 
Additionally, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Lao had 
visited 12 different wet markets in central Guangzhou. 
 
Government Reaction 
---------------------------------- 
¶3. (SBU)  The Guangzhou Consulate only received official 
confirmation of the case on March 4, when the Chinese 
government sent a diplomatic note.  The note, although 
lacking an English translation (Guangzhou Consulate 
translation provided), was significant in terms of its 
detail. 
 
Text of diplomatic note: 
----------------------------------------- 
March 4, 2006 
 
Diplomatic Note No. 2006-15 
 
To All Foreign Consulates in Guangzhou: 
 
The Guangdong Provincial People's Government Foreign Affairs 
Office would like to notify all foreign consulates in 
Guangzhou that a case of human infection of avian influenza 
has been discovered in the Guangzhou metropolitan area. The 
following are the details: 
 
The victim, LAO Moumou, male, age 32, unemployed, is a 
registered resident of Guangzhou.  On 22 February, the 
victim fell ill, became bed-ridden with fever, and showed 
signs of pneumonia.  Because his illness became serious very 
rapidly and treatments were ineffective, he died at noon on 
2 March.  According to the findings of a preliminary 
influenza study, the victim had visited agricultural markets 
frequently to conduct market research before he became ill. 
He had spent a lot of time at a spice store that was in the 
vicinity of a stall where live chicken are slaughtered.  The 
Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Prevention and 
Control conducted an examination of the victim and assessed 
that the virus A/H5N1 was present.  A specialist group from 
the Guangdong Provincial Health Department, following the 
Central Government's guidelines set on human infection of 
 
GUANGZHOU 00006174  002 OF 003 
 
 
avian influenza, made the preliminary conclusion that the 
victim is a suspected human case of avian influenza. 
 
After receiving the report from the Guangdong Provincial 
Health Department, the leaders of the Guangdong Provincial 
Government has given the situation serious attention, 
requesting the all relevant departments must follow the set 
guidelines to report any other human cases of avian 
influenza, implement all the prevention and control 
measures, ensure that all those exposed are quarantined 
properly for examination, disinfect all the places where the 
disease has the potential to be transmitted, so that the 
disease cannot spread.  The Health Department has taken the 
necessary prevention and control measures, and has put the 
people with close contact to the victim under examination by 
medical personnel.  The Provincial Health Office has tasked 
the Health Department to provide a definitive conclusion on 
the above case. 
 
End Text of diplomatic note 
--------------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  In response to discovering a human AI victim, the 
Guangdong government immediately launched emergency measures 
to prevent and control the spread of the disease, according 
to Xinhua.  Since March 1, city and district Centers for 
Disease Control and the hospital that treated the patient 
have taken a series of measures, including epidemiology 
investigation, medically surveying the victim's close 
contacts and disinfecting his places of contact.  Experts 
are scrambling to discover if the poultry at the Guangzhou 
market where Lao may have contracted AI had been vaccinated 
and where the birds came from, according to Hong Kong press 
reports.  The information on the Guangzhou case has been 
reported to the Ministry of Health who has reported the case 
to the WHO, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, and a few 
countries.  At a press conference held March 5, Health 
Minister Gao Qiang said so far no second case had been 
detected.  Additionally, a spokesman with the Health, 
Welfare and Food Bureau of Hong Kong said on March 5 that 
Hong Kong has decided to suspend live poultry imports from 
Guangdong for the next three weeks (see Hong Kong septel). 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  In addition to the quarantine and human 
investigations, the Southern Metropolis Daily reports 
officials have been inspecting the scene of the incident. 
Yesterday the Guangdong Animal Epidemic Supervision 
Institute and the Guangzhou Animal Epidemic Supervision 
Institute inspected the wet markets in central Guangzhou 
where the victim is believed to have frequented.  Inspectors 
collected samples of chicken and duck droppings from each 
store in the wet markets.  The test result is expected to 
come out March 7. 
 
Official Denial to PACOM Delegation 
----------------------------------- 
¶6.  (SBU)  Prior to the March 4 dipnote, Chinese officials 
gave no other warning to the Consulate.  Most notably, on 
March 2, the Guangdong Public Health Department told a 
visiting U.S. delegation of military health experts from the 
U.S. Pacific Command that there were no cases of AI at all 
whether involving poultry, wild birds, or people in the 
province (for additional detail, see Guangzhou septel). 
 
Western Press Reports Misinformation and Cover-up 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
¶7.  (SBU)  Initially there was no press information on the 
AI case from mainland sources.  In fact Hong Kong's South 
China Morning Post (repeated in the Reuters item) reported 
that Chinese authorities had attempted to muzzle news 
coverage, pointing out that "[T]he Guangdong propaganda and 
health departments jointly issued a notice to local media 
not to report on the case, saying there should be no 
coverage until it was confirmed."  Chinese practice has been 
 
GUANGZHOU 00006174  003 OF 003 
 
 
for central health authorities to confirm cases before they 
are permitted to be reported by the media or the local 
health authorities.  Experts familiar with the situation in 
China have always maintained that there have been outbreaks 
of H5N1 in birds in Guangdong province as early as the first 
half of 2005, but Beijing has always denied this, according 
to Reuters. 
 
Mainland Press Reaction 
----------------------- 
¶8.  (SBU)  The first major mainland source to report the AI 
case was Xinhua on March 4.  In Guangdong, local papers 
initially would not confirm the case as AI until March 6, 
when the Guangzhou Daily published a detailed timeline of 
the events.  Originally medical officials believed the case 
might be SARS, but refuted this on February 28.  According 
to their timeline, the case was reported at 11:10 p.m. to 
the Guangzhou Party Committee, Guangzhou municipal 
government and the Guangdong Provincial Public Health 
Department, which immediately reported to the Health 
Ministry. 
 
Comment: Guangzhou -- A Hotbed for AI? 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) It is not entirely surprising an AI case has shown 
up in Guangdong.  In an August 2005 Reuters article, an 
expert noted that South China is the perfect breeding ground 
for new diseases, and a likely starting point for a long 
overdue flu pandemic because of the warm weather and the 
proximity in which animals and humans live.  A recent New 
York Times article also pointed out that while nearly a 
dozen Chinese provinces have acknowledged bird flu cases 
this winter, Guangdong province -- China's wealthiest and 
most populous province -- has not.  On March 3, Dr. Zhong 
Nanshan, a Chinese expert on SARS and AI, when answering 
questions on contagious disease in China predicted that 
Guangdong and Hong Kong would most likely have an AI 
outbreak between February and June.   Given that Guangdong 
is the birthplace of SARS, there has been some concern that 
AI would come to Guangdong sooner or later.  As officials 
scramble to quarantine those in contact with Lao, to inspect 
local wet markets, and to stop the further spread of AI, it 
appears that sooner or later has unfortunately become 
sooner. 
 
DONG