VZCZCXRO5551
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #1157/01 1990249
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180249Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4524
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0036
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 9182
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1739
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 8012
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 2556
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0834
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC//ISA/NESA
RUEKDIA/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J2/J5
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J2/J4/J5

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001157 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT PLEASE PASS TO AIAG/HOLLIS SUMMERS, AIAG/TONY NEWTON AND 
AIAG/NICHOLAS STUDZINSKI 
DELHI PLEASE PASS TO FAS/OLIVER FLAKE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU ELAB PREL PGOV BG
SUBJECT:  FIRSTHAND LOOK AT NORTHWEST DISTRICTS' RESPONSE TO BIRD 
FLU 
 
REF: (A) DHAKA 1035, (B) DHAKA 976, (C) DHAKA 776, (D) DHAKA 743, 
 
AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Econoff and EconFSN visited Rangpur, Nilphamari 
and Lalmonirhat districts located in the northwest corner of 
Bangladesh July 1 Q 4 to assess in person the GOB response to recent 
avian influenza outbreaks.  The visit showed that some information 
about avian influenza risks and even about associated programs such 
as compensation for culled flocks has reached both the technical 
veterinary officers as well as the general community.  Details about 
the virus, the outbreak, and proper precautions and response are, 
however, lacking.  Likewise, while large-scale commercial poultry 
farms have the resources to put biosecurity measures in place, these 
resources are beyond the economic scope of the small, backyard 
poultry farms and are virtually non-existent among them. 
Consequently, the outbreak is spreading in the backyard poultry in 
these districts.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) DISTRICT AND UPAZILA LIVESTOCK OFFICERS.  Emboffs met with 
District and Upazila Livestock Officers in each of the three 
districts.  Each shared many of the same concerns: how to expand 
education and awareness, whether current compensation plans are 
adequate, the economic realities of the area and what that means for 
biosecurity in backyard poultry, and the officers' resource 
constraints.  Chief among the resource complaints was a lack of 
trained labor, which must be approved through the cumbersome GOB 
bureaucracy and is a complaint throughout the GOB.  The District 
Livestock Officers admitted using local unskilled labor in culling 
operations, but said that they used personal protective equipment 
(PPE).  It is, however, unlikely in the extreme that these laborers 
received any prior training in its proper use.  In each district, 
the Officers were able to produce USAID provided PPE and said they 
had adequate supplies.  The current protocol is to send samples to 
the regional Field Disease Investigation Laboratory in Jaipurhat for 
testing, but each of the three District Livestock Officers expressed 
interest in having testing capacity at their level. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Likewise, each of the three District Livestock Officers 
shared their successes.  Each felt that they received good support 
from their District Commissioners and reported that each district 
had regular meetings of an Avian Influenza Committee made up of 
livestock and human health officers, law enforcement (Police and 
Bangladesh Rifles border forces) representatives, and local NGOs. 
Based on the 90-day period after culling before a farm can restock 
with poultry, each District Livestock Officer had proposed some 
variation on an alternative livelihood plan such as dairy, sheep, 
goats or cattle. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) BIOSECURITY IN BACKYARD POULTRY.  Emboffs visited a range 
of operational poultry farms.  The largest commercial farm visited, 
VIP Poultry Hatchery, displayed biosecurity measures including a 
vehicle bath which was long enough to ensure full immersion of each 
wheel.  Emboffs were properly excluded from the area, which included 
an eight story concrete chicken coop building.  With respect to the 
small, backyard operations, however, in only about a third of those 
visited was there some form of disinfectant spray used and a foot 
bath visible; likewise, Emboffs would have been able to enter any 
area had we attempted to, in violation of good biosecurity 
practices.  Despite prodding from Upazila livestock officers no 
farm, commercial or backyard, was able to produce a mask or 
protective clothing used when entering the coops, although 
admittedly with VIP Poultry, those would have in fact been on the 
other side of the biosecurity line.  On the positive side, the 
culled farms and houses observed from outside the quarantine area by 
Emboffs did not appear to have poultry in them at that time. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) COMPENSATION.  The District Livestock Officers reported 
that compensation was being paid out in their areas to culled farms. 
 In all districts, however, both livestock officers and industry 
representatives indicated concern with the compensation scheme.  The 
flat rate of 70 taka for a commercial bird is on the low end of 
acceptable for a broiler bird, but for a layer expected to produce 
eggs over a substantial period (and which does not begin producing 
until after six months), that rate is inadequate.  For hatcheries, 
where the six month lead time is compounded by a higher cost for the 
parent or grandparent stock and the resulting live chicks are more 
valuable than eggs for consumption, the compensation represents 
 
DHAKA 00001157  002 OF 002 
 
 
about a tenth of the actual investment in the bird.  COMMENT.  The 
hatcheries most negatively impacted by this compensation scale are 
also the commercial operations most able to effectively implement 
biosecurity procedures for their own protection, so there is some 
economic rationale to the scheme.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) ECONOMIC IMPACT / QUARANTINE RISING PRICES.  These are 
rural agricultural areas and are considered economically 
disadvantaged relative to other areas of Bangladesh.  Distant from 
the highly centralized capital in Dhaka, material costs are high for 
everything from fuel to disinfectant. 
A large amount of backyard poultry is raised in this region; in most 
cases it is not the exclusive source of income for a household but a 
supplement to other sources of income.  As such, backyard poultry is 
an important tool for alleviating poverty.  As a result of the 
outbreak, Rangpur has closed its borders to the export of poultry 
and eggs, which has caused localized economic imbalances.  Rangpur 
produced about twice as much chicken as it consumed, and the closure 
of its borders with neighboring districts such as Nilphamari and 
Lalmonirhat mean a surplus of product and decreasing price within 
Rangpur, but a shortage and increasing price elsewhere.  Curiously, 
Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari have not closed their borders to poultry 
products, on the basis that in Rangpur the outbreak sites were 
within one kilometer of the road where in the other districts the 
outbreaks were not. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) LACK OF INFORMATION / DESIRE FOR MORE INFORMATION. 
Emboffs attended a special session of the Rangpur Chamber of 
Commerce to discuss avian influenza with Chamber of Commerce 
officers and local poultry farmers.  The discussion highlighted the 
need and desire for additional information in the community.  Based 
on incomplete or inaccurate information, many of the participants 
asked for the simple way to stop avian influenza, and were not 
satisfied with Emboff's response "strict culling, effective 
quarantines, and continuous testing."  Some participants even asked 
why the US has not put all of its resources to developing and 
distributing a vaccine.  Also, the local semantic distinction 
between avian influenza (only infects birds) and bird flu (the name 
used when it infects humans) came up again, since apparently a local 
human health representative ensured them that there is no bird flu 
in Bangladesh; an accurate statement when using the local, 
inappropriate definitions, but very confusing when discussing the 
topic with people who use the terms correctly and interchangeably. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) COMMENT.  The District Livestock Officers were 
enthusiastic, knowledgeable within their limits and aware of their 
limits, and realistic about what they could accomplish with their 
resources.  The local community has a broad but shallow awareness of 
avian influenza and a desire for more specific information. 
Compensation ranges from barely adequate at the backyard level to 
wholly inadequate at the large commercial hatchery level, inversely 
proportionate to the ability of the operation to afford to take 
effective biosecurity measures.  There is qualified support for the 
GOB culling and quarantine programs, but that support is far from 
enthusiastic across the board.  Additional information and resources 
about the outbreak in Bangladesh is available on post's avian 
influenza webpage at:  http://10.208.1.12/dhkavianinfluenza.htm. 
 
PASI