VZCZCXRO5854
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #1629/01 1810945
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300945Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2588
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 1438
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 2947
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 5536
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG PRIORITY 0939
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU PRIORITY 0689
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU PRIORITY 0246
RUEHRO/USMISSION UN ROME PRIORITY
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 1386
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA PRIORITY
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHRC/USDA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//USDP/ISA/AP// PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC//J2/J3/J5//
RUEKDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-3//
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J00/J2/J3/J5//
RHEFAFM/DIRAFMIC FT DETRICK MD//MA-1A//

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HANOI 001629 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G, CA/OCS/ACS/EAP, EAP/EX, EAP/MLS, EAP/EP, INR, OES/STC 
(PBATES), OES/IHA (DSINGER AND NCOMELLA), AND MED 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE AND GH (DCARROLL, SCLEMENTS AND 
PCHAPLIN) 
STATE PASS TO USTR (EBRYAN) 
STATE PASS TO HHS/OGHA (WSTIEGER, EELVANDER AND ABHAT) 
USDA PASS TO APHIS 
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FOR OSD/ISA/AP (LSTERN) 
BANGKOK FOR RMO, CDC, USAID (MFRIEDMAN, JMACARTHUR AND MBRADY) 
ROME FOR FAO 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU AMED AMGT CASC EAGR PINR SOCI VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM - JUNE 30 AVIAN INFLUENZA REPORT 
 
HANOI 00001629  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
REF: HANOI 1280 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary.  The Government of Vietnam (GVN) will resume 
breeding of duck hatchlings starting in July.  The breeding of 
waterfowl such as duck and geese was suspended in November 2005. 
State media continues to report that the national poultry 
vaccination campaign is behind schedule, with nineteen cities and 
provinces in Vietnam having completed the first round of 
vaccinations in 2006 and thirteen cities and provinces conducting 
the second injections of the first round, which was expected to be 
completed by the end of May.   The United States Agency for 
International Development (USAID) announced its support for a 
public-private partnership to strengthen the capacity of 
veterinarians and poultry farmers by upgrading animal health 
information systems, improving bio-safety measures of small poultry 
farmers, and providing AI educational materials in Thai Nguyen 
Province.  The GVN continues to report no AI outbreaks in poultry or 
humans over the past seven months.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) Vietnamese state media reported on June 29 that the Animal 
Health Department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural 
Development (MARD) has decided to allow the breeding of duck 
hatchlings starting in July.  The breeding of waterfowl such as 
ducks and geese was suspended in November 2005.  In February 2006, 
the MARD allowed chicken breeders to resume production, and farmers 
have since been required to immunize day-old hatchlings before 
selling them.  Seven months ago, the H5N1 incident rate among 
waterfowl was reportedly as high as 80 percent in monitored areas. 
It is believed that waterfowl can carry the H5N1 virus without 
showing symptoms. 
 
¶3.  (U) State media continues to report that the national poultry 
vaccination campaign is "seriously lagging behind schedule."   In a 
Nhan Dan Newspaper article dated June 28, the Animal Husbandry 
Department of MARD stated that 110.6 million poultry have been 
vaccinated of the 130 million planned to be vaccinated by the end of 
May.  (NOTE: These are the same figures reported in press on June 4. 
 END NOTE)  The same article reported that nineteen cities and 
provinces in Vietnam have completed the first round of vaccinations 
while thirteen cities and provinces are currently conducting the 
second injections of the first round.  The department blamed the 
slowdown on a shortage of funds and a growing complacency among 
local governments because Vietnam has not experienced any poultry 
outbreaks in poultry since December. 
 
¶4.  (U) State media reported on June 27 that the Ministry of Health 
had not yet received an official confirmation from the World Health 
Organization regarding the information of human-to-human 
transmission of AI in Sumatra, Indonesia.  In Vietnam, Vice Director 
of the Health Provision Department of MOH Dr Nguyen Van Binh 
informed the press that no human-to-human transmission has been 
documented in Vietnam, although there have been reported cases of 
two or three family members dieing as a result of the disease. 
 
¶5.  (U) USAID announced its support for a new public-private 
alliance to help prevent AI outbreaks in poultry, bringing the total 
2006 USG assistance for AI in Vietnam to over USD 7 million.  This 
new alliance represents a joint effort between USAID, the GVN, 
provincial Sub-Departments of Animal Health, Agronomies and 
Veterinaires Sans Frontiers (AVSF), Pfizer Animal Health Group, 
 
HANOI 00001629  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
Synbiotics, Evilais, Proconco and other agricultural businesses. 
 
¶6.  (U) With an initial investment of USD 55,000 investment, USAID's 
Global Development Alliance is leveraging funds provided by the 
private sector to support efforts to strengthen the capacity of 
veterinarians and poultry farmers as they work to prevent and 
control AI outbreaks in Vietnam.  The nine-month project, with an 
estimated budget of USD $185,000, will start by providing support to 
veterinarians in Thai Nguyen Province to improve their diagnosis of 
AI, train veterinarians on AI epidemiological processes and tools, 
upgrade GVN's animal health information systems, improve the 
bio-safety measures of small poultry farmers, and provide national 
dissemination of AI educational materials.  USAID's AI programs 
focus on five key objectives for improved readiness and response 
capacity: planning and preparedness, surveillance, outbreak 
response, communications, and stockpiling essential supplies and 
equipment. 
 
¶7.  (U) As of June 30, 2006: 
 
-- No human AI deaths since October 29, 2005 
-- No human AI cases since November 14, 2005 
-- No AI outbreaks in poultry since the last reported incident on 
Dec. 17, 2005 in Cao Bang Province 
 
Marine