VZCZCXRO3033
OO RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHPB
DE RUEHJM #1231/01 0861551
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271551Z MAR 06
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1196
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAHLC/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASH DC IMMEDIATE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001231 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR WILLIAMS/GREENE/WAECHTER; 
NEA/RA FOR LAWSON; OES FOR DALEYNSC FOR ABRAMS, DORAN, 
MUSTAFA; STATE PASS TO USAID/BORODIN; STATE PASS TO USDA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU TBIO SENV ECON EAGR EAID KWBG IS
SUBJECT: AI SITREP MARCH 27: CULLING BEGINS IN GAZA; ISRAEL 
OUTBREAK CONTAINED FOR NOW 
 
REF: A. JERUSALEM 1206 
 
     ¶B. JERUSALEM 1192 
     ¶C. JERUSALEM 1177 
     ¶D. JERUSALEM 1151 
     ¶E. TEL AVIV 1135 
     ¶F. TEL AVIV 1087 
 
This is a joint cable from Consulate General Jerusalem and 
Embassy Tel Aviv. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The WHO and the PA reported that 
preparations for culling had begun and that infected flocks 
in Rafah and Jahr el-Deik began to be culled March 27.  The 
PA has promised compensation for Gaza farmers with infected 
flocks.  The Israeli labs returned negative test results for 
two farms in Gaza and three in the West Bank.  The PA 
Ministry of Health reported that it had received adequate 
doses of Tamiflu from the GOI and UNICEF.  The GOI announced 
that it had completed the culling of 1.2 million birds in 
Israel, in nine days ending March 27.  End Summary. 
 
Palestinian farmers agree to cull their flocks 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2.  (SBU) WHO Representative Mahmud Daher reported March 27 
that the two-part culling process had begun in Gaza with 
instructions to farmers with infected flocks to dehydrate the 
birds to prepare them to drink poisoned water.  (Note:  He 
added that the GOI had provided the PA with the necessary 
poison.  End Note.)  Both Daher and PA Gaza Director of 
Control and Quarantine Said Siyam said culling would begin 
March 27 with the elimination of 13,000 egglayers in Rafah 
using poisoned drinking water.  The Gaza Farmers Council had 
given the Jahr el-Deik farmers instructions to begin the 
dehydration process to prepare for the culling of their flock 
of 35,000.  In the interim, the area continued to be under 
strict quarantine, Siyam noted.  The decision to move forward 
with culling was the result of a March 26 meeting with 
representatives from the WHO, FAO, UNRWA, the Gaza Governor, 
and the head of the Gaza Farmers' Council, during which Gazan 
farmers agreed to cull their infected flocks in exchange for 
forthcoming compensation.  (Note:  Daher said the farmers 
will receive between USD 7 and 10 per broiler chicken and USD 
15 and 20 per chicken.  End Note.) 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Daher confirmed that samples from Beit Lahia (north 
of Gaza city) and el-Musaddar (near Deir el-Balah), submitted 
to the GOI for testing after suspicious deaths of poultry, 
had come back negative for H5N1. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) World Bank Country Director David Craig reported 
that the World Bank could reallocate USD 2 million to fund an 
AI compensation program for Palestinian farmers.  The 
reallocations will need World Bank Executive Board approval, 
but Craig noted that the PA could borrow from a commercial 
bank against this pledge.  Craig said Deputy Finance Minister 
Jihad al-Wazir is calling for the EU to release its last 
tranche of funding (about USD 21 million) from the World Bank 
Reform Trust Fund for emergency AI compensation and 
containment efforts.  Craig believes the World Bank could 
disburse the money, if instructed by the EU, but that the 
fastest way to move funds would be for the GOI to unfreeze a 
portion of PA clearance revenue after Israeli elections and 
disburse it to UNRWA, the only UN agency that has indicated 
an ability and willingness to implement an emergency AI 
program, in concert with WHO and FAO. 
 
PA receives Tamiflu; no human cases reported 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Daher confirmed that the PA had received 300 doses 
of Tamiflu from the GOI and that UNICEF had purchased another 
900 doses from the local market for distribution in the West 
Bank and Gaza, should there be a human outbreak.  (Note: 
There have been no confirmed cases of humans contracting the 
AI virus in the West Bank or Gaza.  End Note.)  Deputy Health 
Minister Anan Masri said the PA had met its present Tamiflu 
needs but it may need additional doses in the future.  Masri 
reported that the PA Ministry of Health staff in Gaza had met 
 
JERUSALEM 00001231  002 OF 002 
 
 
with their Israeli counterparts March 26 at the Erez crossing 
to discuss their needs, which include equipment to protect 
healthcare workers dealing with potential human cases if the 
virus should spread. 
 
Negative results for AI suspected cases in the West Bank 
--------------------------------------------- ----------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) In the West Bank, PA West Bank Director of 
Veterinary Services Imad Mukarkar said samples from three 
farms,  including the 5,000 egglayer farm in el-Bekiah, the 
9,000 broiler farm in Jericho, and samples sent from a 
broiler farm in Nablus, had all tested negative, ccording to 
the Israeli lab.  He confirmed that the only positive case of 
H5N1 in the West Bank wa in the Israeli settlement of 
Beka'ot.  He maintined that all farms would continue to be 
closelymonitored. 
 
GOI completes culling, assesses damaes 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) A March 26 statement by the Israeli Agricultre 
Ministry expressed concern that Israel could xperience a new 
outbreak of H5N1, given the presnce of the disease in 
Jordan, Egypt and Gaza.   Israel culled 1.2 million birds at 
53 coops in 14 communities in nine days, ending March 27, 
thereby controlling its outbreak at present.  The Israeli MOA 
statement compared Israel's response favorably to those of 
other countries, noting inter alia that Japan took 23 days t 
cull at one location and 31 days at another.  Te MOA has 
assessed "direct damages" at NIS 24 milion (USD 5.2 
million), and is in the process of calculating indirect 
costs.  (Note: Current GOI MA estimates of direct costs are 
for compensationfor farmers in the poultry sector, of which 
NIS 2 million (USD 2.6 million) was paid out the week of 
March 20.  Indirect costs are estimated at NIS 45 million 
(USD 9.8 million) and do not/not include the costs to the GOI 
of controlling the AI outbreak, the cost of assistance to the 
PA, or other impacts on the economy.  Estimates for those 
additional costs should emerge in the coming days, but GOI 
officials are reluctant to focus on these calculations due to 
concern of future possible outbreaks of AI.  End Note.) 
WALLES