VZCZCXRO6623
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1492/01 1451051
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251051Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4879
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
INFO RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J07/CATMED/CAT//
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 7962
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0781
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1005
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7573

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001492 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, G/AIAG AND OES 
USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABHAT/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH 
GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA-MAY 25 AVIAN INFLUENZA (AI) UPDATE 
 
REF: A) Jakarta 1331 B) Jakarta 1319 and previous 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. Permanent and TDY staff from the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) arrived the week of May 14 and 
met with numerous Ministry of Health officials.  Indonesia media 
closely followed World Health Assembly (WHA) events and reported the 
outcomes as a resounding Indonesian success.  The Ministry of Health 
(MOH) reported two fatal human AI cases the week of May 21, and CDC 
and NAMRU experts expect an additional 4-6 human AI cases a month 
and occasional clusters until the disease is contained in the animal 
population.  The MOH has sent no additional AI samples to the World 
Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center in Tokyo since May 
¶10.  End Summary. 
 
CDC Permanent Staff Arrive 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Permanent and temporary CDC staff visited Jakarta May 11-24 
to meet with Government of Indonesia (GOI) personnel in preparation 
for establishing a CDC office in Jakarta.  The team met with staff 
of the Directorate General of Disease Control and Environmental 
Health (LITBANGKES), WHO Indonesia, Eijkman Institute, the main 
infectious disease hospital in Jakarta (RSPI), NAMRU-2, USAID, 
National AI Committee (KOMNAS), Food and Agricultural Organization, 
and the Mission's Avian Influenza Working Group.  The main purpose 
of the visit was to introduce Dr. Frank Mahoney and Dr. Mike Thomas 
as the Jakarta based CDC staff who will be working at the Ministry 
of Health, Directorate General of Disease Control and Environmental 
Health (Indonesian CDC) for two years to assist with influenza 
surveillance, avian influenza related activities, and pandemic 
preparedness.  The group discussed the current CDC Cooperative 
Agreements, and activities related to disease and laboratory based 
surveillance, training, and pandemic preparedness. 
 
Local Media Declares Victory for Indonesia at WHA 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶3. (U) Indonesian media outlets have featured numerous positive 
stories about the outcomes of the May 14-23 World Health Assembly. 
Stories reported on Minister Supari's May 15 announcement that 
Indonesia would resume sample sharing; Indonesia's selection as a 
member of the WHO Executive Board; and unanimous approval of what 
they termed "an Indonesian draft resolution" on sample sharing.  A 
representative of Antara, Indonesia's official news service, 
reported on May 22 that Minister of Health Supari claimed "almost 
100 percent of our proposal has been accepted 
unanimously...Automatically, it will be part of an international 
health regulation binding all WHO member counties," she said. 
 
¶4. (U) The Koran Tempo similarly reported on May 24 that developed 
countries will "no longer take advantage of developing countries" 
hit by the bird flu disease. "The resolution will bind all WHO 
members," wrote Director General of Disease Control and 
Environmental Health of the Health Ministry, I Nyoman Kandun, in his 
short message to Tempo. "Virus sample delivery must be done 
transparently, responsibly, and be beneficial for all parties in 
maintaining the health of the world community." 
 
Sample Sharing Update 
--------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Despite media reports, we have seen no evidence that the 
GOI has shared samples beyond the three specimens the MOH sent to 
the WHO Collaborating Center in Tokyo on May 10 (Ref B).  NAMRU-2 
continues to provide diagnoses on human samples acquired from its 
own influenza surveillance network.  The current backlog of samples 
will likely continue to grow, as both NAMRU-2 and the visiting CDC 
Medical Epidemiologists anticipate that sporadic individual cases 
and occasional family clusters will continue in Indonesia in the 
coming months until the GOI controls the disease in the animal 
population and improves community awareness. 
 
AI Human Case Reports 
----------------------- 
 
 
JAKARTA 00001492  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The MOH reported two new human AI cases the week of May 21. 
 During the WHA, the WHO agreed to accept Ministry of Health 
confirmations as official cases.  However, WHO numbers may lag MOH 
counts by several days.  NAMRU-2 figures reflect confirmed NAMRU 
cases only, and do not include a number of the human AI cases the 
MOH has reported since December 2006. Table 1 lists the various 
Indonesia AI counts as of May 25. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Table 1: Indonesia AI Case Counts (5/25/07) 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
                  No.       No.      Fatality 
Organization    Cases     Deaths       Rate 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
MOH  (1)         98       78           80% 
 
WHO              97       77           79% 
 
NAMRU-2          83       64           77% 
 
(1)  NAMRU-2 tested two of above MOH confirmed cases and found 
samples to be negative for H5N1. 
 
HEFFERN