VZCZCXRO0392
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHNH RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0810/01 2061303
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251303Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1194
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY 1256
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI 0867
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0008
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0008
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 0076
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0008
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0007
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 0019
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHINGTON DC//J2/J3/J5//
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC//DHO-3//
RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J00/J2/J3/J5//
RHEFAFM/DIRAFMIC FT DETRICK MD//MA-1A//

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HO CHI MINH CITY 000810 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G, CA/OCS/ACS/EAP, EAP/EX, EAP/MLS, EAP/EP, INR, OES/ST 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE AND GH (DCARROLL, SCLEMENTS AND PCHAP 
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 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU AMED AMGT CASC EAGR PINR SOCI VM
SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA: POULTRY VACCINATIONS IN SOUTHERN VIETNAM 
 
REF: 05 HCMC 0891 B) 05 HCMC 0855 C) 05 HCMC 1269 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000810  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: In recent meetings, the Directors of the HCMC 
and Mekong Delta Regional Animal Health Centers told us that 
they are generally satisfied with the results of the Avian 
Influenza (AI) poultry vaccination campaign.  The last poultry 
outbreak in the Mekong Delta and South-Central regions of 
Vietnam occurred in April 2005.  The GVN's interpretation of the 
post-immunization surveillance shows that, on average, 70 
percent of poultry tested positive for antibodies four months 
after vaccination, which is the minimum acceptable standard. 
However, lower antibody rates for ducks, the primary vector for 
AI, may require more frequent vaccination than the current twice 
yearly schedule.  Wide variations in the presence of vaccine 
antibodies in different flocks in various provinces also may 
indicate problems in the vaccination program or in 
post-vaccination surveillance.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In mid-June, EconOff met with Dr. Nguyen Xuan Binh, 
Vice Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Regional Animal Health 
Center, and Nguyen Ba Thanh, Director of the Can Tho Regional 
Center, to discuss the results of the 2005 poultry vaccinations 
and prospects for the 2006 program.  The centers, representing 
two of six total in Vietnam, cover 23 provinces from the Mekong 
Delta to the South-Central province of Ninh Thuan.  The centers 
are responsible for inspection, prevention, and disease 
diagnosis. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Directors said that the vaccination program 
consists of two injections administered in the spring and fall. 
Although birds are supposed to be vaccinated every six months, 
the actual gap between vaccinations could be as long as eight 
months.  In the event of an outbreak, birds within three 
kilometers of an infection site are re-vaccinated. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In 2005, in the region covered by the HCMC Center, 42 
percent, or 21 million of 50 million poultry, were vaccinated. 
Of the vaccinated stock, nineteen million backyard birds were 
immunized with Chinese-manufactured vaccines (costing between 
VND 250-300 or 1.6-1.9 U.S. cents per dose) while an additional 
2.1 million farm-raised chickens were inoculated with vaccines 
produced by the Dutch company Intervet (costing between VND 
450-650 or 2.8-4.1 U.S. cents per dose). 
 
¶5. (SBU) In the first half of 2006, approximately 30 million 
poultry were vaccinated, 21 million backyard chickens and ducks 
and an additional 9 million in commercial farms.  The Director 
added that the central government funds the purchase of vaccines 
for backyard poultry while private farms cover the costs of 
their programs.  Of the roughly VND 500 billion (USD 31 million) 
the GVN spends on the national vaccination program, VND 80 
billion (USD 5 million) is allocated to the HCMC Regional Center 
and VND 60 billion (USD 3,750,000) to the Can Tho/Mekong Delta 
Center.  The second dose of the vaccine will be administered 
beginning in August/September of 2006 with completion scheduled 
for year's end. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Can Tho Center Director Thanh confirmed that the Mekong 
Delta region followed the same vaccine protocol as HCMC; he was 
unable or unwilling to provide a synopsis of 2005's vaccination 
program.  He claimed that during the first half of 2006, 15 
million of the Mekong Delta's 16 to 17 million poultry were 
vaccinated.  Between 750,000 and 1.5 million of these birds were 
reportedly housed in commercial farms. 
 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000810  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Post-Vaccination Testing 
------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Centers' Directors told us that poultry flocks in 
vaccinated provinces are randomly checked at one month and four 
months after vaccination.  Regional health officials check for 
the presence of vaccine antibodies in live poultry and for signs 
of the virus in bird feces.   The HCMC region tests an average 
of three flocks per province while the Can Tho Regional Center 
tests two.  (For example, in Long An Province (which belongs to 
the HCMC Animal Health Region), 840 live birds were tested and 
3,360 dropping samples were collected.)  According to HCMC 
Center data, one month following vaccination, between 78 and 82 
percent of birds tested positive for vaccine antibodies.  (The 
numbers were 80.6 percent for chickens and 79.6 percent for 
ducks.)  No virus loads were detected in bird feces.  However, 
at four months, the average presence of vaccine antibodies in 
ducks dropped to 43 percent, while the rate in chickens was 70 
percent.  Moreover, antibody rates in tested duck flocks ranged 
from 15 to 96 percent.  According to the Can Tho Center, its 
tests showed that ducks had higher immunity than chickens after 
the four-month mark.  The Center Director claimed that ducks in 
the Delta are better cared for and more properly contained than 
in HCMC.  However, he was unwilling or unable to provide data to 
back up these assertions. 
 
Lingering Questions Over Vaccine Efficacy 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In 2005, Dutch vaccine producer Intervet raised 
questions about the quality of the Chinese-made vaccine, arguing 
that there was not sufficient published data to confirm its 
effectiveness (ref B).  At least some Vietnamese scientists 
appear to continue to share these concerns.  Nguyen Huu Hung, 
Deputy Head of the Department of Veterinary Medicine at Can Tho 
University, complained that GVN research laboratories maintain a 
monopoly on vaccine testing.  Can Tho University, while 
technically able to conduct such tests, has been prohibited from 
both sequencing the AI virus and conducting trials on the 
Chinese-made vaccine's effectiveness.   Hung said that his GVN 
colleagues had cited biosafety as the primary reason, even 
though universities such as Can Tho have conducted such tests on 
other virus strains in the past.  Hung said that the twice a 
year vaccination schedule was recommended by the Chinese vaccine 
producers, but he felt that a three-times yearly vaccination 
schedule was more appropriate for vaccination of backyard bird 
flocks in Vietnam. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Comment: The Vietnamese authorities claim that their 
culling, surveillance and vaccination campaign has been a 
success. Although the H5N1 virus is still considered endemic 
within the Vietnamese poultry and waterfowl stocks, there has 
not been an AI outbreak in poultry in Vietnam over the past 
seven months and no poultry outbreaks in the southern regions of 
Vietnam over the past 16 months.  That said, several concerns 
exist.  The lower antibody rate in ducks, the primary vector for 
AI, may indicate that duck flocks require more frequent 
vaccinations.  Additionally, the wide variation in the presence 
of vaccine antibodies in different flocks in various provinces 
may indicate either that some vaccines are ineffective, that 
post-vaccination studies are not accurate, or that vaccines are 
not being administered evenly to at-risk flocks in all 
provinces.  Finally, the Can Tho Regional Center Director 
reported that he had heard the GVN is considering reducing 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000810  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
central-level funding of the vaccination program and would like 
to turn over funding responsibility to the provinces.  Without 
strong central-level funding, the effectiveness of the 
vaccination program may degrade.  End Comment. 
CHERN