VZCZCXRO8615
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB
DE RUEHHI #0303/01 0461046
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151046Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY HANOI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4640
INFO RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH 2567
RUEHZS/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 3062
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 5650
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1108
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0759
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 0289
RUEHSUN/USUN ROME IT
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1446
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 000303 
 
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, DBELL AND ABHAT) 
STATE PASS TO CDC (NCOX AND AMOHEN) 
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: AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE - POULTRY OUTBREAKS QUELLED 
 
 
HANOI 00000303  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
REF: HANOI 107, HANOI 73 AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  The Government of Vietnam (GVN) has announced the 
successful containment of H5N1 outbreaks in poultry after 
experiencing 21 outbreak-free days.  During January 29-31, Senior 
Advisor for East and Southeast Asia Charles Patterson traveled with 
ESTHOff, CONGEN ECONOff and CDC Influenza Advisor to Can Tho, Hau 
Giang and Dong Thap Provinces in the Mekong Delta.  The USG team 
consulted with local authorities to better understand the AI poultry 
outbreak situation in the Delta, government strategies to contain 
the outbreaks and local capacity in response planning.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) There have been no confirmed H5N1 AI human cases in Vietnam 
this year and none reported in 2006. 
 
Poultry Outbreaks Quelled in Mekong Delta 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) On February 14, the National Steering Committee for Avian 
Influenza Prevention and Control, which is chaired by the Minister 
of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) Cao Duc Phat, announced 
the successful containment of H5N1 outbreaks in poultry, after 21 
outbreak-free days.  In early December, the first poultry outbreaks 
of 2006 were detected in southernmost Ca Mau Province, and within 
weeks, numerous outbreaks were reported throughout seven Mekong 
Delta provinces.  These outbreaks affected mostly unvaccinated 
ducklings and did not spread to large commercial chicken flocks. 
Media outlets have reported Minister Phat eating "safe" chicken and 
warning the public to properly cook meats in the ramp-up to this 
week's Tet Lunar New Year holiday, in which chicken is traditionally 
served.  Since the recurrence of AI in the Mekong Delta late last 
year, aggressive control actions were taken including vaccination of 
nearly 13 million birds, mostly waterfowl. 
 
USG Team Visits Mekong Delta Provinces 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) On January 29-31, (AIAG) Senior Advisor for East and 
Southeast Asia Charles Patterson traveled with ESTHOff, CONGEN 
ECONOff and CDC Influenza Advisor to Can Tho, Hau Giang and Dong 
Thap Provinces in the Mekong Delta.  The USG team consulted with 
local authorities to better understand the AI poultry outbreak 
situation in the Delta, government strategies to contain the 
outbreaks and local capacity in response planning.  The USG team was 
warmly received by GVN officials in all three provinces. 
Observations and findings were shared at the ESTH regional 
conference in Bangkok on February 7. 
 
¶5. (SBU) In Can Tho City, the team met with the Director of the 
Regional Animal Health Center Nguyen Ba Thanh.  Director Thanh 
reported that, beginning on December 6, 2006, outbreaks occurred in 
remote area of Ca Mau Province in mostly unvaccinated ducklings 
between 1.5 to 3 months of age with high mortality.  The first cases 
occurred in backyard chickens before moving to small flocks of 
Peking and Muscovy ducks; large flocks of mature ducks were 
apparently not heavily affected.  Reports reached GVN officials only 
on December 17.  By that time, outbreaks were occurring throughout 
in Ca Mau and Bac Lieu, the earliest and hardest hit provinces. 
Government officials eventually had to deal with poultry outbreaks 
in approximately 100 sites in eight contiguous provinces of the 
Mekong Delta.  In all, 70 to 80 percent of samples collected in 
 
HANOI 00000303  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
affected areas tested positive for H5N1.  Disease did not spread to 
larger commercial flocks which had recently completed 2nd round of 
vaccination (H5N1 in ducks, H5N2 in chickens). 
 
¶6. (SBU) Director Thanh spoke candidly about some of the underlying 
challenges of the "serious and hard to control" poultry outbreaks, 
including: 1) outbreaks occur in poor, remote areas with few local 
animal health staff, poor communications systems, low levels of 
surveillance, and difficulties in implementing control actions; 2) 
nearly all poultry are backyard, free-range flocks and farmers do 
not readily follow government instructions on preventive measures, 
such as use of enclosures; 3) regulations banning duck raising and 
controlling free-range flocks have not been strictly followed; 4) 
vaccinations are incomplete, especially of backyard flocks, due to 
lack of compliance and no vaccine available for Muscovy ducks; 5) 
inability to control transportation of poultry from affected areas 
to markets; 6) local animal health officials are not under the 
direct authority of central and regional MARD staff.  Responding to 
a question about what actions would be more responsive, Thanh 
indicated that more should be done to clamp down and implement 
existing government regulations, especially at household level. 
Thanh added that duck rearing should be banned until February 27 and 
that all duck hatchlings should be culled, which he noted is 
unfeasible given the lack of any compensation scheme for poor 
villagers. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In Can Tho City, the USG team also met with the Deputy 
Director of Animal Health and the Chief Inspector of Animal Health, 
both members of the Can Tho City AI Steering Committee.  While Can 
Tho experienced no poultry outbreaks in 2006, three households 
experienced outbreaks in early January, 2007.  In Can Tho, there are 
inter-agency teams capable to respond to outbreaks at city, district 
and commune-levels.  The city employs seven animal health inspectors 
at the department level and five inspectors in each of the seven 
districts within the city.  A mobile task force is also deployable 
to conduct surprise inspections.  Subsequently, the team visited 
Ngoc Xuan slaughterhouse, one of the city's biggest and newest, 
which capable of processing 3,000 birds on a normal day.  From a 
layman's perspective, the operation appeared crude and fairly easy 
for sick birds to infect others in the holding pens. 
 
¶8. (SBU) The USG team also met with Dr. Nguyen Chu Nghi, Deputy 
Director of the Health Department and Preventative Health Center of 
Can Tho City, which has a population of 1.12 million.  Five human 
health rapid response teams are standing by at the city-level, 
complemented by an additional three teams at district-level and two 
teams at each commune-level.  City-level rapid response teams 
comprise of an epidemiologist, clinician, 
environmentalist/sanitarian, lab technician, and occasionally an 
animal health worker.  In the event of a suspected H5N1 human case 
at the district level, city and district-level teams are dispatched 
to work together.  The health response teams also coordinate with 
animal health response teams to test blood of animal health workers 
administering vaccinations, inspecting hygiene of slaughterhouses 
and markets, and inspecting the decontamination of affected 
households and neighboring households in affected areas.  In the 
event of an epidemic, respirators will be in short supply.  The 
tuberculosis hospital has seven units, the regional hospital has two 
units and each district hospital has only one unit. 
 
¶9. (SBU) In Hau Giang Province, the USG team was received by Vice 
Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Mr. Tran Thanh Lap and 
all nineteen heads of provincial departments and units that comprise 
the Provincial AI Steering Committee.  Director of the Department of 
 
HANOI 00000303  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Agriculture and Rural Development Mr. Nguyen Van Dong, Permanent 
Head of the steering committee, provided a detailed briefing of the 
poultry outbreaks, which began in 2004.  Between December 26, 2006 
and January 12, 2007, Hau Giang experienced 20 outbreaks in seven 
communes of two districts.  In total, 300 birds were recorded sick 
or dead, while another 8,000 birds were culled.  The Committee 
reiterated the main challenges in quelling the poultry outbreaks, 
namely the inability to control wandering duck flocks and the 
inability to enforce restrictions on hatching of ducks at grassroots 
levels.  The Committee believes that the vaccination campaigns have 
helped to prevent the spread of AI, and recommend that the timing of 
the vaccinations be administered before the high-risk months of July 
and December.  The meeting was filmed by a local television crew. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The USG team then met with the Vice Director of Hau Giang 
Provincial Hospital Dr. Pham Tham Phuong.  The hospital has an AI 
action group with nine staff members. A few physicians and nurses 
have received training at the Pasteur Institute in HCMC on 
recognition and reporting of cases, diagnosis, case management and 
infection control. The hospital has two isolation beds and three 
beds in infectious diseases ward.  In the event of an epidemic, 
patients are to receive treatment at provincial-level hospitals and, 
if necessary, transfer patients to referral hospitals such as the 
Tropical Diseases Hospital and Pediatric Hospital Number 1, both 
located in HCMC. 
 
¶11. (SBU) In Dong Thap Province, the USG team met with the Director 
of the Department Agriculture and Rural Development Mr. Nguyen Van 
Dung.  Dong Thap Province follows national guidelines on control and 
prevention disease in poultry, including mass propaganda, educating 
and enhancing awareness of the community leadership.  Mr. Dung 
reiterated the lessons learned from neighboring provinces, namely: 
immunization of poultry is a critical feature to prevent occurrence; 
the need to reform poultry industry to move toward large scale 
rearing using modern practices where vaccination and bio-security 
measures are feasible (NOTE: 60 percent of rearing is small scale, 
30 percent is medium and 10 percent is large-scale presently). He 
noted that the largest challenge is to educate the public to follow 
government instructions and for farmers to change risky practices. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Finally, the USG team visited a CDC-funded project 
implemented by CARE International and the Lai Vung District Women's 
Union to develop a model of commune mobilization for behavioral 
change education and enhanced surveillance by recognizing the signs 
of sick birds.  The project focuses on improving knowledge, attitude 
and behavior at the grassroots level.  The model is being 
implemented in 16 communes in four of the province's nine districts. 
 In total, 19,000 people have attended 313 meetings sponsored by the 
project. 
 
ALOISI