VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHJA #0182/01 0230104
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230104Z JAN 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2951
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
INFO RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHMFIUU/BUMED WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7615
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0339
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 1969
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0962

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000182 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MLS, EAP/IET, MED/DASHO/EMR AND MED 
DEPT FOR G/AIAG AND OES 
DEPT PASS TO USDA/FAS/DLP/HWETZEL AND FAS/ROSENBLUM 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO USDA/FAS/FAA/DEVER AND USDA/APHIS/ANNELLI 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO USDA/FAS/OTCB/ROSENBLUM AND USDA/AHHIS AUSTGEN 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO USAID/ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABHAT/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH 
PARIS FOR FAS/AG MINISTER COUNSELOR 
BANGKOK FOR APHIS/CARDENAS, RMO, CDC, USAID/RDM/A 
CANBERRA FOR APHIS/EDWARDS 
ROME FOR FAO 
NSC FOR JMELINE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA - JANUARY 19 AVIAN INFLUENZA (AI) UPDATE 
 
REF: A) Jakarta 00107    B) Jakarta 00033 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. The Governor of Jakarta signed a regulation on 
January 17 prohibiting all backyard farming of poultry in 
residential areas in Jakarta by February 1.  However, at a 
subsequent meeting organized by the National Committee on Avian 
Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness (KOMNAS), key 
stakeholders expressed skepticism about the Jakarta city 
government's ability to implement the regulation.  On January 18, 
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said that the central 
government would extend the ban on backyard chickens to eight other 
provinces.  The Mission's Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-2) has 
confirmed two additional human AI cases since Ref A, one of whom has 
died, and ruled out H5N1 on forty other suspected cases.  Dr. Rodney 
Hoff from the REDI Center in Singapore visited Jakarta from January 
14-17 and discussed the Tangerang Trilateral Project with officials 
from KOMNAS, the Ministry of Health, and the Singaporean Embassy. 
End Summary. 
 
Jakarta Administration Issues Poultry Ban 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) On January 17, the Jakarta city administration issued 
Gubernatorial Regulation No. 5/200 banning backyard farming of 
poultry in residential areas in order to curb the spread of avian 
influenza. The regulation outlines five poultry restrictions: 
 
--The Jakarta city government asks residents to voluntarily dispose 
of fowl before January 31 by properly consuming, selling or 
slaughtering them. 
 
--Beginning on February 1, residents will be prohibited from raising 
fowl (chickens, ducks, swans, pigeons and quail) in their backyards. 
 
 
--Researchers and owners of pet birds must apply for health 
certificates from the Jakarta Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Agency 
if they want to keep birds. 
 
--City authorities will relocate all commercial fowl-breeding sites, 
poultry storage facilities, and slaughterhouses to designated areas, 
away from residential areas. 
 
--The transportation of poultry within Jakarta will be regulated 
with detailed ordinances in the future. 
 
¶3. (U) Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso urged Jakarta residents to support 
the policy and noted that the city will develop future regulations 
on commercial poultry farming.  The city's animal husbandry agency 
estimates that residents in about half of the city's houses keep 
birds, and that each of the more than 2,600 neighborhoods in the 
city is home to approximately 1,000 fowl.  Media reports have 
provided conflicting information about whether the Jakarta 
government will compensate private and commercial poultry owners for 
birds they cull.  Some reports suggest that compensation will be 
approximately Rp 12,000 (USD 1.30) per fowl.  However, authorities 
have not announced where this funding will come from or how 
officials will administer the scheme. 
 
Stakeholder Meeting on New Decree 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Following the announcement, KOMNAS convened a meeting of 
key stakeholders, including the World Health Organization, Food and 
Agricultural Organization (FAO), UNICEF, USAID, and World Bank to 
discuss the announcement and seek assistance with implementation. 
Bayu Krisnamurthi, KOMNAS Executive Director was positive about 
Jakarta's policy but acknowledged many questions about 
implementation and the economic impact on poultry workers.  Bayu 
asked for FAO support in developing an animal health certificate 
system for birds allowed under the regulation. Bayu also noted that 
the Governor plans to relocate poultry collection points to 
approximately four areas on the periphery of Jakarta, including one 
location in Tangerang but that this plan has not yet been negotiated 
with the governors of neighboring provinces. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Bayu said he anticipates that infrastructure costs to 
implement the plan would be financed out of the Jakarta city budget. 
International organization participants expressed a willingness to 
help, but echoed KOMNAS' concerns, noting that the movement of large 
numbers of poultry in the next two weeks could increase the risk of 
spreading H5N1, and that the decree would prompt people to keep 
poultry illegally and complicate the implementation of prevention 
and control programs. 
 
Regions Next For Bird Ban 
-------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) On January 18, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari told 
the press that the central government plans to extend the ban on 
backyard poultry in the capital to eight other provinces. 
Additionally, the government is asking that regional administrations 
implement a ban on slaughtering chickens outside of slaughtering 
houses and increase monitoring of poultry traffic.  The eight 
provinces likely to receive the background poultry ban reportedly 
include Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra, 
West Sumatra, Lampung, and South Sulawesi. 
 
NAMRU-2 Identifies Additional Cases 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) NAMRU-2 reports two additional cases of human H5N1 
infection since Ref A, both of which were confirmed by the U.S. CDC 
on January 19.  At the same time, NAMRU-2 has ruled out H5N1 virus 
during tests of more than forty other suspected cases mentioned in 
various media reports.  The two new cases include a 27-year-old 
female from South Jakarta and an 18-year-old male from Serpong, 
Tangerang.  The 27-year-old female was admitted to the hospital on 
January 11 and died January 12.  The 18-year-old male reported to 
Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta on January 11.  Although stable, he 
remains on a ventilator.  He is the son of a 37-year-old female who 
died of H5N1 on January 9 at the same hospital.  The father of the 
18-year-old male has tested negative for H5N1 infection by RT-PCR 
but remains a suspected case until he can be ruled out following 
antibody tests.  Authorities believe both individuals had contact 
with dead poultry. 
 
¶8. (SBU) NAMRU-2 data indicates the following AI-related case 
profile as of January 19: 
 
-- Number of laboratory confirmed (positive PCR and/or serology) 
human AI cases: 79, of which 61 have been fatal (case fatality rate 
of 77 percent). 
 
-- Number of probable AI cases: 4, of which 2 are fatal (case 
fatality rate of 50%). 
 
-- Number of cases awaiting analysis at the U.S. CDC: 0. 
 
-- Number of possible untested AI cases under investigation (last 30 
days): 27. 
 
Note: NAMRU-2 data corresponds with Ministry of Health (MOH) data 
but may vary at times with AI case figures presented on the official 
World Health Organization (WHO) website, which usually lags NAMRU-2 
data by one week.  The WHO website, last updated on January 15, 
notes 79 human AI cases in Indonesia with 61 deaths.  For WHO 
figures, log onto their website at 
www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza. 
REDI Center Representative Discusses Tangerang Project 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Dr. Rodney Hoff from the Regional Emerging Diseases 
Investigation Center (REDI) visited Jakarta January 14-17 to meet 
with GOI officials and others dealing with AI management and 
preparedness and discuss the Tangerang Trilateral Project.  Hoff 
told us KOMNAS is taking a stronger leadership and coordinating role 
in the Tangerang project, but lacks the capacity to implement 
projects on the ground.  Dr. Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, Secretary to 
KOMNAS, proposes to set up a team consisting of officials from the 
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, and Tangerang District 
and Municipal authorities to draft a Tangerang project operational 
plan for stakeholders' review at a workshop in late February.  The 
GOI has still not identified a project director nor finalized its 
MOU with Singapore. 
 
PASCOE