VZCZCXRO0021
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #2803/01 3100049
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 060049Z NOV 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3904
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2089
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3029
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5620
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1041
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0740
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0272
RUEHSUN/USUN ROME IT
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1421
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//USDP/ISA/AP//
RHMFISS/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 HANOI 002803 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/EP, INR, OES/STC, OES/IHA, MED 
STATE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE AND GH 
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 (JMACARTHUR AND MBRADY) 
ROME FOR FAO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU AMED AMGT CASC EAGR PINR SOCI VM
SUBJECT: VIETNAM - NOVEMBER 3 AVIAN INFLUENZA REPORT 
 
HANOI 00002803  001.3 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
REF: HANOI 2686 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  There have been no reported human Avian 
Influenza (AI) cases and no confirmed AI outbreaks in poultry to 
date this year in Vietnam.  On November 1, the Charge d'Affaires 
signed the Partnership Framework for Avian and Human Influenza 
(PAHI) along with nine donors and three non-governmental 
organizations.  The USG is the second largest donor (after Japan) 
and has committed and pledged over USD 12 million of the total USD 
94.2 million received by the Government of Vietnam (GVN).  A senior 
MARD official stated that the GVN has spent USD 15.3 million on 260 
million vaccines and administered these to 124 million poultry, or 
90 percent of the birds in targeted areas.  He added that 
post-vaccination virus surveillance in 19 high-risk provinces 
indicates the national vaccination campaign has been an effective 
intervention.  The GVN announced that one million doses of Tamilfu 
and 1,000 respirators are stockpiled.  The French pharmaceutical 
company Sanofi Pasteur successfully conducted human trials on a H5N1 
vaccine based on a Vietnamese H5N1 strain isolated in 2004.  In Lam 
Dong Province, 4,000 ducks were culled following the suspicious 
deaths of several hundred animals.  Party officials in the northern 
province of Quang Ninh were removed from leadership and stripped of 
their party membership as a result of embezzling funds earmarked for 
AI prevention.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) There have been no reported Avian Influenza (AI) cases and 
no confirmed AI outbreaks in poultry to date this year in Vietnam. 
 
PARTNERSHIP FRAMEWORK FOR AVIAN AND HUMAN INFLUENZA 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶3.  (SBU) On November 1, the Charge d'Affaires signed the 
Partnership Framework for Avian and Human Influenza (PAHI) along 
with nine donors and three non-governmental organizations.  The 
PAHI, officially titled "Partnership Framework between National 
Steering Committee for Avian Influenza of the Socialist Republic of 
Vietnam and International Partners Concerning the Establishment of 
the Partnership Framework for Avian and Human Influenza," is 
non-binding and voluntary.  Commonly known as the Green Book, it 
provides the overall framework for donor coordination to support the 
GVN's "Integrated Operational (IO) Program for Avian and Human 
Influenza (2006-2010)." 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The partnership meeting follows on the June 2006 donor 
conference aimed at funding the Green Book, which is estimated to 
cost USD 250 million through 2010.  The GVN pledged USD 100 million 
and hoped that the donor community would fill a gap of USD 150 
million.  As of November 1, the USG is the second largest donor, 
after Japan's pledge of USD 14.5 million.  The USG has committed or 
pledged over $12 million of the total USD 94.2 million received by 
the GVN.  The European Community, World Bank and Asian Development 
Bank have also contributed sizable amounts, at USD 12 million, USD 
10 million and USD 9.7 million respectively. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In the meeting, Minister of Agriculture and Rural 
Development Cao Duc Phat praised the international donor community 
for their support to Vietnam and listed a number of clear actions, 
including vaccinations, biosafety measures and early detection 
systems, that have helped Vietnam to remain free of AI outbreaks in 
poultry and human cases for nearly one year.  Minister Phat 
acknowledged that the GVN needs to step up efforts to control bird 
movements, including across the northern border, and coordinate the 
animal and human sides of the AI fight.  Several Chiefs-of-Missions, 
 
HANOI 00002803  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
taking the lead of the Australian Ambassador, pressed the GVN to 
remain vigilant, share lessons with their neighbor countries, namely 
Laos and Indonesia, and to reinvigorate the GVN's public awareness 
campaign. 
 
¶6. (SBU) At the meeting, a senior MARD official stated that the GVN 
has spent USD 15.3 million on 260 million vaccines and administered 
these to 124 million poultry, or 90 percent of the birds in targeted 
areas.  (Note: There are an estimated 250 million chickens and ducks 
in Vietnam.  End note.)  The official added that post-vaccination 
virus surveillance in 19 high-risk provinces indicates that the 
national vaccination campaign has been an effective intervention. 
 
TAMIFLU STOCKPILE AND HUMAN VACCINES 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶7. (SBU) Vice Minister of Health Trinh Quan Huan announced on 
October 20 that the GVN had purchased one million Tamiflu 
(oseltamivir phosphate) tablets and was distributing them to 
hospitals across the country.  VM Huan also announced that 1,000 
respirators, 100 tons of the disinfectant Chloramin B, one million 
medical gloves and masks, and 1,000 chemical sprayers to disinfect 
poultry farms.  (NOTE: Health officials in central Vietnam reported 
to HCMC ECONOff that no additional Tamiflu had been received since 
late 2005. END NOTE.) 
 
¶8. (U) Thanh Nien News and multiple global media outlets reported 
that France-based pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur had 
successfully conducted human trials on a H5N1 vaccine based on a 
Vietnamese H5N1 strain isolated in 2004.  Sanofi Pasteur vaccinated 
300 volunteers with the Vietnamese strain of the virus and then 
tested antibodies from the vaccinated volunteers with H5N1 strains 
from Turkey and Indonesia.  Preliminary results of the trials 
indicate that a vaccine based on a Vietnamese H5N1 strain can be 
effective in neutralizing antibodies from H5N1 viruses found in 
other countries.  Dr. Klaus Stohr of the WHO indicated that while 
vaccine tests on mice and other mammals had suggested 
cross-protection was possible, Sanofi Pasteur's trials were the 
first to indicate cross-protection in humans.  Dr. Angus Nicoll, 
Director of Influenza Coordination at the European Center for 
Disease Prevention and Control, added that even if a vaccine offered 
cross-protection, it could not be used to inoculate humans from 
other influenza subtypes. 
 
CULLINGS AND HEADS THAT ROLL 
---------------------------- 
 
¶9.  (U) Vietnam News Agency reported that 4,000 ducks in the Central 
Highlands province of Lam Dong have been culled following the 
suspicious deaths of several hundred animals. Local animal health 
authorities reportedly killed the 70-day-old poultry after observing 
the animals to be bloated, immobile, and thiamine deficient.  The 
owner of the flock admitted to buying the newly-born ducks from a 
source in Ho Chi Minh City, which local media described as 
"dubious."  Animal Health authorities also confirmed to Thanh Nien 
News that the ducks in question had yet to be vaccinated against 
H5N1.  Authorities have yet to identify the cause of the duck 
deaths. 
 
¶10. (U) Party officials in the northern province of Quang Ninh were 
removed from leadership and stripped of their party membership after 
embezzling funds earmarked for AI prevention.  Dow Jones Newswire 
reported on October 24 that two officials in the town of Tan Viet 
embezzled VND 47 million (USD 2,930) by inflating the number of 
culled waterfowl in the village.  The GVN compensates individual 
 
HANOI 00002803  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
poultry owners between VND 5,000 (33 cents) and VND 20,000 (USD 
1.33) per culled bird.  Two other town officials were reportedly 
given a warning over their involvement in the embezzlement. 
 
MARINE