VZCZCXRO8185
RR RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD
DE RUEHBJ #0119 0110909
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110909Z JAN 08 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4390
INFO RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 8915
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 3756
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 9939
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 8798
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 8570
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 5765
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHC/DEPT OF INTERIOR WASHDC 0707
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS BEIJING 000119 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
BANGKOK FOR REO AND CDC 
HHS FOR OGHA - STEIGER, HICKEY 
CDC ATLANTA FOR CCID AND COGH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO KFLU EAGR CH
SUBJECT: BEIJING AVIAN INFLUENZA UPDATE:  REPORTED OUTBREAK IN 
POUTRY IN XINJIANG AUTONOMOUS REGION (FAR NORTHWEST) OF CHINA. 
 
REF  A) BEIJING 7567 (2007) 
 
 B) GUANGZHOU 1279 (2007) 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Chinese authorities confirmed in the domestic and 
international media that there had been an outbreak of H5N1 avian 
influenza amongst poultry in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region 
beginning December 29, 2007. Reports indicated a die-off of about 
5,000 birds and control measures culling a further 30,000 birds 
leading to their pronouncement that the outbreak has been put under 
control.  No human cases have been identified in association with 
this report, nor elsewhere in China.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Xinhua and Reuters media outlets reported this week that the 
Chinese authorities confirmed an avian influenza (AI) outbreak in 
poultry in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, (northwestern part of 
China) around the city of Turpan.  Apparently beginning around 
December 29, 2007, 4,850 birds had died by the time of the first 
media report on January 4, 2008.  Provincial authorities culled an 
additional 29,833 birds to try and prevent further spread of the 
virus. Unidentified provincial agricultural officials from Xinjiang 
were quoted in the Reuters reports as suggesting/blaming this recent 
poultry outbreak on the warmer winter which was bringing more 
migratory birds to the areas surrounding Turpan, quote "increasing 
the chances of bird flu outbreaks," end quote because, rather than 
flying further south, the migratory birds stayed near the city due 
to the warmer weather experienced so far this winter in Xinjiang. 
 
¶3. (U) The official notification from the Ministry of Agriculture 
(MOA) received by the Embassy on January 4, 2008, indicated that 
this outbreak was confirmed by the National AI Reference Laboratory 
(in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province) through virus isolation, RT-PCR 
and IVPI methods as influenza type A H5N1. Furthermore, this 
notification reported that the local government took additional 
measures including: establishing quarantine of the outbreak area, 
carrying out disinfection measures, culling of poultry and 
vaccination of all susceptive poultry within a 5 Km radius area of 
the original dying flocks. The Vice Minister of Agriculture Gao 
Hongbin responding to questions from the media at a State Council 
press conference on January 8, 2008 stating, quote "The Xinjiang 
outbreak has been well controlled; the Ministry of Agriculture is 
closely monitoring animal diseases including AI. Once an outbreak is 
found, the Ministry of Agriculture will take strict measures to 
control and prevent spreading of the epidemic" end quote.  Local 
farmers were also put under observation by local health officials to 
assure they didn't develop symptoms or illness.  To date no such 
reports have been shared. 
 
¶4. (U) The last reported outbreak in poultry reported was in 
Guangdong Province in September 2007, when some 10,000 ducks died 
and about 30,000 others were culled in the control response (Ref B). 
This current poultry report from Xinjiang Province also comes about 
a month after China reported a family-related cluster (father and 
son) of H5N1 avian flu in humans (Ref A).  The Chinese reported this 
week that the father completely recovered from his illness in late 
December and was released from the hospital. 
 
¶5.  (U) Comment: As might be expected in the "winter season," 
increases in reported animal and human cases of H5N1 avian influenza 
(AI) pick up in China, but over the past year there have not been 
reports of animal and human AI cases occurring in the same locations 
around the same time, nor have there been reports of sustained 
human-to-human transmission in China.  The family cluster in Nov-Dec 
of 2007 (Ref A) was China's first probable human-to-human 
transmission and transmission was likely the result of the intensive 
care the father provided to his ill and dying son. 
 
RANDT