VZCZCXRO7885
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0302/01 0450825
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 140825Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7994
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
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 8329
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2000
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1085
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7731

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 000302 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, G/AIAG AND OES 
USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL 
DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABHAT/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH 
GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN 
USDA/FAS/OSTA BRANT, ROSENBLUM 
USDA/APHIS ANNELLI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA - TANGERANG AI UPDATE 
 
REF:  A) Jakarta 137 B) Jakarta 126 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. With the spiking number of cases (eight) occurring 
in Tangerang in the past three months, key donor stakeholders are 
increasingly focusing on Avian Influenza (AI) surveillance and 
prevention efforts in Tangerang.  The Tangerang district governor 
recently established an AI task force, reporting hotlines and will 
be opening a AI command center.  Embassy officials from USAID, CDC, 
USDA and the Regional Emerging Diseases Intervention (REDI) Center 
participated in a series of meetings on January 31 with key 
officials from the Government of Indonesia, the Government of 
Singapore and donor stakeholders.  During January 22-24, USDA/APHIS 
and the National Committee on Avian Influenza Control and Pandemic 
Preparedness (KOMNAS) co-sponsored a three-day Live Bird Market 
Workshop and developed national strategies for restructuring bird 
markets and poultry distribution chain.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
TASK FORCES ESTABLISHED, CRISIS CENTER ANNOUNCED 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶2. The Jakarta Post reported on February 9 that the governor of 
Tangerang regency directed officials to open a bird flu crisis 
center to curb the spread of avian influenza in the regency. 
Tangerang officials told us that the center will be a command and 
control center that will coordinate AI response activities within 
the local government. Thus far they have established an official 
task force to coordinate local activities and a hotline for AI case 
reporting in poultry in the district.  Since November 2007, eight of 
the last 15 cases in Indonesia occurred in Tangerang, thereby 
creating pressure for the local government to act quickly. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
RAMPING UP ANIMAL CONTROL IN TANGERANG 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) On January 21, we met with the United Nations International 
Children's Fund (UNICEF) and USAID and other USG funded partners 
including the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture 
Organization  (FAO), REDI Center and the Community Based Avian 
Influenza Control Project (CBAIC) to organize an intensified 
response to increasing numbers of Avian Influenza cases in 
Tangerang. On January 31, the same stakeholders joined officials 
from the Singaporean Government, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and 
the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) at a Tangerang Trilateral 
Secretariat meeting that was called to help accelerated government 
 
SIPDIS 
and stakeholder activities in Tangerang. 
 
4 (U) FAO began profiling commercial poultry operations in 
Tangerang, as part of their overall West Java commercial poultry 
profiling activity to better understand risk factors in the 
commercial sector.  With funding from USAID, FAO/MOA will train 24 
new Participatory Disease Surveillance and Response (PDSR) officers 
from Tangerang city and district (12 each), bringing the total to 40 
officers. In the meantime, Tangerang will support increased workload 
through a combination of approved overtime and PDSR officers loaned 
from neighboring districts.  In the past two weeks, USAID sent 40 
additional disinfection kits to Tangerang with plans to replenish 
supplies. 
 
¶5. (U) USDA/APHIS, KOMNAS and the Tangerang Trilateral Secretariat 
co-sponsored a January 22-24 Live Bird Market Workshop to formulate 
national strategies to restructure wet markets including a pilot 
Tangerang market. As part of the Tangerang Trilateral project, 
USDA/APHIS is also funding a baseline survey for the Tangerang 
district to identify current wet markets, poultry slaughterhouses, 
commercial farms and prevailing practices. 
 
----------------------------------- 
HUMAN HEALTH ACTIVITIES INTENSIFIED 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (U) WHO committed to expanding human surveillance activities in 
Tangerang; training of primary health care workers, and 
 
JAKARTA 00000302  002 OF 002 
 
 
restructuring of wet markets to reduce environmental risk to humans. 
 WHO, FAO, and CBAIC are developing a uniform reporting format to 
integrate poultry and human surveillance data to promote early 
detection and treatment of human AI cases. 
 
-------------------------------- 
COMMUNITY EDUCATION AND OUTREACH 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) The Tangerang task force informed FAO that the district plans 
to launch a public awareness campaign in 36 sub-districts and the 
city is conducting a massive disinfection campaign on February 
15-16.  The district is distributing a letter with guidance for 
raising of poultry in residential areas (e.g. caging) to be followed 
by a local government decree to enforce the guidance.  The task 
force indicated that both the city and district want to reorganize 
and improve hygiene at markets and that WHO and USDA will pilot 
activities in one market each, noting that Tangerang has 16 markets 
operating seven days per week and 22 village markets that operate 
three days per week. The task force has met with officials of the 
MOA, which will be providing technical support for the project. 
 
¶8. (U) USAID's CBAIC program is sending an instant text messaging 
system (SMS) alert to 150 of its 200 Community AI Coordinators in 
Tangerang.  The message alerts the Coordinators that the virus is 
active in Tangerang and reminds them to implement key actions, such 
as reporting and avoiding contact with poultry.  On January 27, 
USAID launched a three month television and radio public service 
announcement (PSA) campaign with key control messages. Five national 
TV stations will air two PSAs for three months.  In addition, three 
local radio stations will air PSAs in Tangerang as well as in other 
endemic districts. 
 
¶9. (U) CARE, Indonesia through a grant from CDC, plans to conduct a 
baseline Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices (KAP) survey in Tangerang 
Municipality. UNICEF is expanding their school-based AI education 
campaign into Tangerang. 
 
---------------- 
CHALLENGES AHEAD 
---------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) The Tangerang Secretariat with support from Singapore and 
the USG through the REDI Center and other funded partners has made 
progress in organizing and coordinating activities in the District 
and Municipality of Tangerang. Donors are intensifying activities in 
an effort to get the disease under control.  However, the lack of 
GOI funding continues to restrict full implementation of the 
Trilateral project. According to a Singapore official, District 
officials can use Singaporean funding to cover local operating costs 
until the Tangerang Secretariat is able to secure its funding from 
GOI.  With the recent expansion of activities, the Tangerang 
Secretariat will be challenged to maintain close communication and 
 
SIPDIS 
coordination among the many stakeholders in order to move the pilot 
project forward. 
 
HEFFERN