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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 002835 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KSCA KFLU EAGR PGOV EG
SUBJECT: LEADING AVIAN INFLUENZA EXPERT, DR. DAVID SWAYNE, VISITS 
EGYPT; USAID PROGRAM UPDATE. 
 
REF: CAIRO 2686 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSFIED.  PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Dr. David Swayne, Director of the Southeast 
Poultry Research Lab and leading expert on Avian Influenza (AI), met 
with the week of August 26 with Government of Egypt (GOE), 
non-government organization (NGO) and private sector poultry 
entities.  USAID approved USD 8.2 million in funding under its USD 
24 million, three year AI program, on September 11.  The United 
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the General 
Organization of Veterinary Service (GOVS) continue to work together, 
having resolved a number of disagreements on elements of the 
program.  According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, 
Egypt accounts for 30 percent of the world's human AI cases thus far 
in 2007. END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------ 
Dr. Swayne's Visit 
------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) During his August 25-31 visit Dr. Swayne met a wide variety 
of AI stakeholders and toured domestic poultry farms.  In a meeting 
with Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation (MALR) Ahmed 
Abazza, Dr. Swayne stressed the need for a strategic, comprehensive 
vaccination program including high quality vaccines, targeting high 
risk areas as well as education and behavior change campaigns in the 
backyard sector.  Abazza agreed on the need for behavioral changes 
among local poultry farmers as misinformation and mistrust continues 
to hinder the vaccination program.  Abazza wants to raise awareness 
without creating panic, but noted the difficulty in changing 
behavior given that "thousands [of people] die everyday of other 
serious things." 
¶3. (U) Dr. Swayne also discussed vaccination strategies with Dr. 
Mona Aly, Director of the Central Lab for Quality Control of Poultry 
Production (CLQPP), and her team.  CLQPP tests all potentially 
infected domestic birds for the AI virus in Egypt.  He also 
addressed over 150 officials from various government and 
non-government agencies directly involved in Egypt's effort to 
combat AI at the Ministry of Agriculture. 
 
------------------------ 
Dr. Swayne's Conclusions 
------------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) At the end of his visit, Dr. Swayne recommended to GOE and 
NGO stakeholders: 1) a vaccine strategy that includes high quality 
vaccine, 2) a stable cold chain and risk analysis for where, when 
and how often to administer vaccines and 3) a broad surveillance 
network with a central hub for data collection to coordinate 
containment and treatment efforts is vital.  Currently, Egypt 
imports 19 different vaccines of varying quality.  Dr. Swayne 
recommended each vaccine be tested and regulated by GOE before use 
in the country. 
 
¶5. (U) Dr. Swayne considers backyard farms, where prevention and 
containment efforts are co-dependent upon GOE efforts and private 
citizen cooperation, Egypt's biggest challenge.  To promote citizen 
participation, Dr. Swayne recommended a system to reward farmers 
bringing in birds for vaccinations with free vitamins for the birds 
or other incentives.  He also suggested GOE study ways to encourage 
the purchase of vaccinated birds.  Dr. Swayne also noted that, 
contrary to press accounts attributing Egypt's AI problems to 
migratory bird, AI transmission from wild, migratory birds to 
backyard poultry is rare. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
Frank Discussion Or Friction Between Partners? 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶6. (SBU) Although the USAID Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP) 
process continues to make progress, some obstacles remain.  Two 
primary recipients, FAO and GOVS, have finally agreed on 
 
CAIRO 00002835  002 OF 003 
 
 
implementation strategy priorities after intense discussions.  At an 
August 29 DIP meeting, FAO team leader Rob de Rooij commented that 
"GOVS is less concerned about the cold chain than FAO.  We must 
still come to an agreement on this." 
 
¶7.  (U) GOVS representative, Dr. Saber Abdel Aziz, however insists 
that an effective cold chain exists throughout Egypt, and that 
poultry in 65 percent of households have been vaccinated 
(representing 55 - 60 million birds).  He noted that in August, 
there were only three cases of AI in backyard sector birds, 
crediting the vaccination program.  He blamed problems with the 
program on the fact that some households are too remote to have easy 
access to vaccinations, and that some flock owners refuse the 
vaccine or hide their birds out of fear that visiting vets may cull 
rather than vaccinate.  (There is no compensation program for 
backyard flock culling.)  Counter to Abdel Aziz's claims of an 
effective vaccination program, FAO staff recently found an 
unrefrigerated truck full of vaccine sitting outside, in the August 
heat, in the GOVS parking lot. NAMRU-3 field samples have also shown 
contradictory results in birds that GOVS had supposedly vaccinated. 
Also, although NAMRU-3 has confirmed the presence of a new H7 strain 
on AI in migratory ducks from Eastern Europe, NAMRU-3 noted H7 is 
historically common among ducks.  If this becomes endemic, current 
vaccines geared towards the H5N1 strain will not be effective and a 
new vaccine will be required. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Despite GOVS requests for USAID funds for poultry vaccine 
purchases, the FAO view prevailed that the money should go toward 
effective cold chain and data systems that allow fact-based 
decisions on vaccine deployment.  Major planned expenditures include 
training for 1600 field veterinarians, data managers and for 
surveillance capabilities.  FAO will focus on establishing an 
effective cold chain, data collection equipment (i.e. handheld GPS 
enabled devices) and poultry sample collection equipment and 
training. 
 
¶9. (U) The process of developing plans and budgets culminated in 
September 9-11 meetings attended by both USG and GOE agencies 
concerned.  USAID has approved, based on the conclusions of the 
meetings, USD 8.2 million to fund the first year of activities under 
the three year, USD 24 million program. 
 
------------------------ 
To BSL 3 or Not To BSL 3 
------------------------ 
 
¶10. (SBU) Currently NAMRU-3 is the only Bio Safety Level 3 (BSL 3) 
laboratory in Egypt.  Dr. Mona Aly, Director of CLQCPP, has asked 
USAID for funding to build a BSL 3 lab in the new AI lab scheduled 
for construction next to her current lab.  USAID and NAMRU-3 are 
concerned that these facilities will be very expensive to build and 
maintain, and believe that the initial focus of the USAID program 
should be directed at surveillance and response.  NAMRU-3 staff did 
propose joint experiments and training at their BSL 3 lab with Dr. 
Aly and her staff.  As additional labs in Egypt have also expressed 
desires to upgrade to BSL 3, APHIS proposed a consultant to review 
the BSL 3 issue. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) According to the WHO, Egypt accounts for 30 percent of the 
world's human AI cases in 2007.  Other top countries include 
Indonesia (47 percent), Viet Nam (7 percent), and China (3 percent). 
 GOVS is the critical link in combating AI in Egypt, but they 
continue to deal with management and organizational weaknesses. 
USAID is funding FAO efforts to improve GOVS capacity in order to 
reduce virus load in backyard sector flocks.  FAO also continues to 
promote a shift in GOVS priorities.  Post supports FAO's priorities 
of establishing a cold chain and strengthening surveillance, and has 
confidence in FAO's ability to target the top priorities, despite 
continuing friction between FAO and GOVS. 
 
CAIRO 00002835  003 OF 003 
 
 
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