VZCZCXRO1566
RR RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #1263/01 2170703
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 050703Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4682
INFO RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 0077
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU 9218
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD 1774
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 8040
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON 2567
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 0862
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 001263 
 
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: BANGLADESH AI WORKING GROUP UPDATE 
 
REF: (A) KOLKATA 227, (B) DHAKA 1221, (C) DHAKA 1157, AND PREVIOUS 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  With the pace of the outbreak's spread slowing 
over the past month, post's Avian Influenza (AI) Working Group met 
to share updated information about coordination between GOB 
ministries, between USG agencies, and between USG and GOB entities. 
While there has not yet been a confirmed human case of H5N1 in 
Bangladesh, coordination between Bangladesh's Ministries of Health 
and of Fisheries and Livestock still needs work.  Human health 
surveillance and diagnostic laboratory capacity are rapidly 
improving, but GOB resources are strained and the majority of 
improvement is coming from NGO sector such as ICDDR,B.  USAID 
continues to expand its in-country resources, including the hiring 
or arrival in the near future of experts in epidemiology, logistics, 
and communications support under the administration of a newly 
created position of in-country USAID AI coordinator.  Additional 
information and resources are available on post's AI webpage, 
http://10.208.1.12/dhkavianinfluenza.htm.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) FOUR MONTHS INTO THE H5N1 OUTBREAK.  Bangladesh's first 
public announcement of H5N1 in poultry was made March 22, 2007. 
From then to July 25, 2007, 173,163 farms and 161,834,109 birds have 
been inspected.  H5N1 was confirmed on 52 farms in 17 of 
Bangladesh's 64 districts, resulting in 240,169 birds culled from 
the 52 infected and an additional 23 surrounding farms.  No human 
cases of H5N1 infection have been confirmed.  The GOB has 
implemented compensation plans for culled farmers (ref C), which 
seems to be generally effective.  Geographically, nine of the 17 
infected districts share borders with India, but are on the 
opposite, western, side of Bangladesh, away from the recently 
reported Indian outbreak (ref A). 
 
¶3.  (U) HUMAN SURVEILLANCE CAPACITY.  The International Centre for 
Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) is an 
international health research institution supported in part by the 
U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  ICDDR,B has established 
itself as a leader in human influenza surveillance in Bangladesh 
through a population based study since 2004, which provides 
substantial baseline data.  Recently, ICDDR,B and the GOB Ministry 
of Health implemented a national hospital surveillance program 
focusing on identifying, documenting, and sampling patients with 
severe respiratory disease. The program is currently operating in 
eight hospitals, and expects to expand to 12 by the end of August, 
¶2007.  ICDDR,B is also adding substantial laboratory capacity to 
analyze the samples flowing from that program.  Biosafety Level 2 
and 3 laboratories for human samples should become operational by 
September 1, 2007 and January 1, 2008 respectively.  ICDDR,B hopes 
to subsequently branch out into veterinary testing; to avoid 
laboratory contamination, however this will require a separate level 
2 facility for the veterinary samples.  ICDDR,B has also received a 
CDC grant to examine the effectiveness of oseltamivir phosphate 
(Tamiflu) against the spread of influenza virus in densely populated 
areas such as Bangladesh. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH.  The working group discussed 
a proposal from Voice of America (VOA) to fund additional reporting 
on AI, and workshops held in conjunction with listener clubs in 
Bangladesh.  UNICEF has the lead on communication strategies, and 
has been working with the GOB in presenting media products. 
Additionally, USAID's global partner for communications, AED, has a 
team evaluating Bangladesh currently.  Therefore, the working group 
suggested that the VOA proposal be coordinated with UNICEF and 
USAID/AED. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) DOD RESOURES.  USAID and post's Office of Defense 
Cooperation continue to work together in developing programs for DOD 
/ PACOM humanitarian assistance resources in two key areas: Personal 
Protective Equipment (PPE) and laboratory capacity.  USAID is 
completing a logistics evaluation of the GOB's ability to mange the 
receipt, storage and distribution of DOD-provided PPE if PPE were to 
be ordered and delivered.  Following that evaluation, USAID will be 
able to ensure that DOD donated PPE would not overload the already 
overburdened GOB logistics system and instead would get to where it 
needs to go.  USAID and DOD are also discussing 
possible funding to outfit the GOB's central veterinary 
investigative lab with Real-time RT-PCR, which would improve 
detection of H5 prior to sending sampling to outside reference 
laboratories. 
 
DHAKA 00001263  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) USAID IMPLEMENTS ITS ACTION PLAN.  USAID has begun 
increasing its in-country footprint by adding experts to support GOB 
efforts in areas such as epidemiology, surveillance, laboratory 
operations, and training on donated equipment as set out in its 
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Action Plan 2007.  Staff continues 
to be replenished over the summer transfer season, including Jo 
Lesser who has arrived at post to take up the position vacated by 
MacDonald Homer in the Economic Growth, Food and Environment 
section.  Also, the hiring process for the new, full-time USAID AI 
coordinator for Bangladesh is now underway. 
 
PASI