VZCZCXRO0762
PP RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA
DE RUEHUJA #1606/01 1771628
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 261628Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ABUJA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6233
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC
RHFMISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME 0010
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 001606 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA FOR FAS/OA, FAS/DLP, FAS/ICD AND FAS/ITP 
USDA FOR APHIS 
USDA FOR WAYNE MOLSTAD/OSEC 
USAID/W FOR AFR/WA ANGELA LOZANO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAID AMED EAGR NI AVIANFLU
SUBJECT: JUNE 26 NIGERIA AVIAN FLU UPDATE - NO HUMAN CASES? 
 
REF:  LAGOS 811 
 
ABUJA 00001606  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  The GON AI Steering Committee met June 14 
for the first time since April 20.  Nigeria will issue 
permits to four major poultry producers to import 
grandparent birds for restocking and will discuss possibly 
permitting poultry vaccinations.  Nigeria does not yet have 
a system for disseminating AI-preventive information to the 
people.  A Ministry of Health official said in the death of 
a young girl, "We strongly suspect" she had "all the 
symptoms" of AI.  The Minister of Health contradicted him 
immediately, saying, "From all available evidence" and as a 
result of Nigerians' prayers, "we have had no human cases of 
AI."  The Charge' d'Affaires delivered talking points urging 
the GON to take steps against AI.  The Minister of State for 
Agriculture gave the GON four weeks to produce an integrated 
AI plan for the short, medium, and long terms.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The Government of Nigeria (GON) Avian Influenza (AI) 
Steering Committee met on June 14 for the first time since 
April 20.  The committee is composed of the ministers of 
health, agriculture, and information.   Representatives of 
UN agencies, the European Union, the UK High Commission, and 
the UK Department for International Development (DFID) 
attended. 
 
¶3. (U) The chief veterinary officer (CVO) said the GON still 
did not know how AI entered Nigeria.  The government would 
issue permits to four major poultry producers to import 
grandparent birds for restocking, and the GON would discuss 
possibly permitting poultry vaccinations.  A Ministry of 
Health (MOH) official listed concerns including premature, 
improperly carried out restocking; the delayed payment of 
compensation; and the source of the initial outbreak, which 
he said probably was not wild birds.  There "certainly" was 
a need for the GON to review its policy on compensation. 
The CVO said the government would not compensate any farmer 
who restocked illegally. 
 
¶4. (U) An MOH official said the GON still needed an action 
plan to include preparing a pandemic response plan (not yet 
done) and an action plan to improve public information for 
citizens on the threat of AI.  In acting against AI, Nigeria 
must do at the state and local-government level what it is 
doing at the federal level.  The Minister of Health said 
more work was needed in coordinating at the state and local- 
government levels; that the GON must review its policy on 
compensation, including restocking; and that the GON must 
ask itself whether all current poultry farmers should remain 
in this occupation.  Poultry farmers should be exempted from 
paying for culling and AI-related veterinary services at the 
state level.  The GON did not have an integrated AI plan 
involving the Ministries of Health, Agriculture, and 
Information. 
 
¶5. (SBU) A World Health Organization (WHO) official said her 
main concern was not action by the GON, but rather that 
Nigeria's state and local governments act effectively 
against AI.  A DIFD official said the main problem currently 
is Nigeria's inability to spend at the state level AI money 
that was already available. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Minister of Health said Nigerians believed AI 
no longer was a threat, and that a media campaign was needed 
to counter this impression.  The Minister of State for 
Health said Nigeria did not yet have a system for 
disseminating AI-preventive information to the people.  The 
Ministry of Information reported it had issued 21 news 
bulletins on AI outbreaks since February 7, when the virus 
was first reported in Nigeria. 
 
Disagreement Over Human AI Cases 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) A WHO official said, "We may be missing human cases 
of AI in Nigeria, but we just don't know."  The MOH's 
leading official on AI cited the case of a young girl who 
 
ABUJA 00001606  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
died, and whose father worked on the AI-affected Sambawa 
Farm in Jaji, in Kaduna State.  She died of an influenza- 
like illness, but no autopsy was carried out.  The official 
said, "We strongly suspect" the girl had "all the symptoms" 
of AI.  The Minister of Health contradicted him immediately, 
saying, "From all available evidence" and as a result of 
Nigerians' prayers, "we have had no human cases of AI." 
 
U.S. Charge' d'Affaires Urges Action 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶8. (U) The Charge' d'Affaires was the only foreign chief of 
mission present.  She delivered talking points that urged 
the GON to take steps including strengthened surveillance 
and reporting on animals and humans, an effective 
compensation policy, and increased cooperation between all 
levels of government in Nigeria and the poultry industry. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Minister of Health was not aware that the 
ECOWAS Regional Ministerial Meeting on the Harmonization of 
AI Control Policies and Strategies in West Africa was to 
meet June 20-23 in Abuja.  The Minister of State for 
Agriculture gave the three ministries four weeks to produce 
for the GON AI Technical Committee (to include the Ministry 
of Science and Technology) an integrated AI plan for the 
short, medium, and long terms.  The Minister of Health, as 
leader of the AI Steering Committee, decided it henceforth 
would meet every two weeks.  (Comment:  The minister 
originally wanted to meet weekly, but every two weeks is 
more realistic considering Nigerian ministries' lack of 
"bench strength" on the issue of AI.  End comment.) 
FUREY