VZCZCXRO7323
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #2432/01 2471007
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 041007Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6060
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA PRIORITY
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 8120
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1102
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1029
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7611

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002432 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, G/AIAG AND OES 
USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/MSTLOUIS/ABDOO AND HHS/NIH 
GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID
SUBJECT: AI - PRESS CONFERENCE DISPUTING HUMAN-TO-HUMAN 
TRANSMISSION 
 
1.(U) Minister of Health Fadilah Supari convened a press conference 
on September 3 to dispute recently published findings from a Seattle 
study describing limited human-to-human transmission from a 2006 
cluster of Avian Influenza cases in Sumatra.  Although the Ministry 
of Health (MOH) distributed talking points to press conference 
attendees, Supari strayed off message during the question and answer 
period.  She alleged that the authors timed the study's publication 
to create public alarm in advance of the Climate Change Conference 
of Parties 13 (COP-13) planned for Bali in December.  Indonesian 
press ran stories in a number of English and Bahasa Indonesian 
newspapers. Press quoted Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare 
Abizural Bakrie as also refuting the study. End Summary. 
 
---------------------------- 
MINISTER ALLEGES CONSPIRACY 
---------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) At a September 3 press conference, Minister of Health Fadilah 
Supari rejected findings from a recently published study in the U.S. 
Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases that found statistical 
evidence of limited human-to-human transmission from a May 2006 
cluster of cases in Sumatra. Researcher Ira Longini and colleagues 
at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle wrote the 
paper, noting that they had examined the 2006 cluster of bird flu 
cases and had found evidence of limited human-to-human transmission. 
 MOH staff distributed Supari's talking points (see para. 5), which 
claimed that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta 
supported the Minister's claim that no human transmission has 
occurred. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Embassy sources present at the conference noted that the 
Minister strayed from her talking points.  She claimed that the 
study was published in order to derail the climate change conference 
scheduled for December in Bali.  "There must be a conspiracy against 
Bali as an international tourist destination. This must be not a 
coincidence. In Bali we will have a very significant conference on 
climate change, where developing countries are fighting their rights 
on the global warming issue. This paper must be part of conspiracy 
against it!" 
 
¶4. (U) Numerous English and Indonesian newspapers reported on 
Supari's press conference although only one paper (Media Indonesia) 
described the alleged conspiracy to derail the Bali conference.  The 
paper quotes Supari as saying "The study was conducted in 2006, but 
it was not published until this month.  I think this is not a mere 
coincidence."  Other newspapers focused primarily on the talking 
points provided at the press conference. Press also quoted 
Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Abizural Bakrie as also 
refuting the study. 
 
----------------------------------------- 
TRANSLATION OF PRESS CONFERENCE STATEMENT 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
¶5. (U) The following is an informal translation of the Minister's 
talking points provided at the press conference. 
 
--There have been news reports recently about the study done by Ira 
Longini and team from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and 
University of Washington, Seattle, Washington that used 
statistical methods to conclude limited human-to-human transmission 
in the Karo cluster, North Sumatra. 
 
--Medically, a study with a statistical approach should not be used. 
Responding to the results of the study, I stated here that until 
today, avian influenza cases in Indonesia are still being 
transmitted from birds to humans. There has been no human-to-human 
transmission. 
 
--This has been confirmed by the sequencing results of H5N1 virus 
from Indonesia - including the latest bird flu case in Bali - done 
by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 
Atlanta, 
United States, which has proven that there has been no 
 
JAKARTA 00002432  002 OF 002 
 
 
human-to-human transmission. 
 
--According to the World Health Organization (WHO), to prove if 
there has been any human-to-human transmission of the bird flu 
virus, epidemiological and virological signs should be noted. 
 
--The statistical analysis that was done by Dr. Longini's study is 
interesting, but does not offer anything new. Until now, there is no 
test to confirm or prove human-to-human transmission. 
 
--The study was not a virological, clinical or epidemiological 
analysis. Thus WHO concludes that broad and sustained, 
human-to-human transmission of H5N1 viruses has not occurred 
anywhere in the world, 
including in Indonesia. Therefore the world remains on phase 3 of 
the pandemic phase - which means transmissions remain from animal to 
human. 
 
-- The study indicates more efforts are needed to prevent a 
pandemic, including intensifying public communications, increasing 
control in animals (particularly in poultry) and accelerating the 
process of developing a realistic pandemic preparedness plan. In 
general, the study will motive us to work harder and more rapidly. 
 
Hume