VZCZCXRO3844
PP RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #1429/01 1601439
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 091439Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5996
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RHFMISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0008
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 001429 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA FOR FAS/OA, FAS/DLP, FAS/ICD AND FAS/ITP 
USDA FOR APHIS 
USDA FOR WAYNE MOLSTAD/OSEC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAID AMED EAGR NI AVIANFLU
SUBJECT: JUNE 9 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE 
 
REF:  ABUJA 1412 
 
ABUJA 00001429  001.2 OF 002 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  The June 7 meeting of the AI Technical 
Committee featured considerable bitterness, as the Ministry 
of Agriculture accused the Ministry of Health of telling 
"lies" about AI's spread in Kano State.  The National 
Veterinary Research Institute confirmed three new instances 
of AI in Plateau State.  The GON paid 12 million naira 
(about $94,000) in compensation, divided between 50 affected 
poultry farmers in Kaduna State.  An FAO official reported 
that Kano State veterinarians continue to suffer a 
"significant" shortage of transportation.  Elsewhere, a 
World Bank official criticized Nigeria's continuing failure 
to draw on any Bank funds.  A European Union official 
observed that Nigeria's political will probably was lacking 
and criticized the government's "unjustified complacency" 
against the virus.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The June 7 meeting of the Government of Nigeria 
(GON) Avian Influenza (AI) Technical Committee, which lasted 
nearly three hours, was extremely contentious and featured 
considerable bitterness between the Ministries of Health 
(MOH) and Agriculture (MOA), though the MOH was barely 
represented.  The chief veterinary officer (CVO), who was 
the meeting's chair, accused the MOH of telling "lies" about 
AI's spread in Kano State and noted his prior intent to fire 
the person who caused this "trauma."  The CVO sought, 
inconclusively, to dissolve a subcommittee created recently 
to address, among other things, recurring AI in Kano State 
and the reported incorrect disposal of dead poultry.  The 
CVO said the GON should instead reexamine its national AI 
emergency-preparedness plan.  A UN Food and Agriculture 
Office (FAO) official, who is Nigerian, called for the 
government to exercise tighter control over AI-related 
information.  (Comment: It is not clear whether the FAO 
official sought tighter control over AI information to 
increase reports' accuracy or to prevent embarrassing 
disclosures, or a combination of these.  End comment.) 
 
¶3. (SBU) An FAO official said in the recent AI outbreak in 
Kano State, the affected farmer was not required to pay for 
AI laboratory testing, but did have to pay for laborers to 
bury dead or culled birds.  An MOA official said his 
ministry intended for farmers to provide the labor or funds 
to dig the pits in which birds will be buried, after first 
being burned to prevent people from eating them.  States 
would pay the cost of the labor if farmers could not  afford 
this.  An MOH official said the Ministries of Finance and 
Justice still must issue legal opinions on World Bank AI 
funding, some of which the Bank approved as far back as 
March 20.  The CVO did not know that some of these funds 
already were available to Nigeria. 
 
Three outbreaks of AI confirmed in Plateau State 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶4. (U) The National Veterinary Research Institute at Vom 
confirmed three new instances of AI in Plateau State: in Jos 
South in a flock of 480 birds, and two in Jos South in 
flocks of 650 and 1,600 birds, respectively.  The Plateau 
State veterinary service culled the three flocks and 
decontaminated the farms.  During the week of May 29, the 
GON paid 12 million naira (about $94,000) in compensation, 
divided between 50 affected poultry farmers in Kaduna State, 
for previous rather than recent outbreaks of AI. 
 
¶5. (SBU) An FAO official who visited Kano last week reported 
on June 6 that Kano State veterinarians continued to suffer 
a "significant" shortage of transportation.  Owners of some 
previously infected farms in the state were stocking their 
farms without permission, but some of these owners were 
implementing improved biosecurity practices.  The federal 
government might need to subsidize the cost of chicken feed 
because of the economic strain on owners who restock, then 
must wait for their chicks to mature. 
 
¶6. (SBU) At the June 6 AI international donors meeting in 
Abuja, a World Bank official criticized Nigeria's continuing 
failure to draw on any Bank funds.  A European Union 
 
ABUJA 00001429  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
official said sufficient money already was available to 
Nigeria to combat AI.  He observed that Nigeria's political 
will probably was lacking and criticized the government's 
"unjustified complacency" against the virus. 
ANYASO