VZCZCXRO3372
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #0686 0950927
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 040927Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8566
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 8390
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 2267
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1099
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7749

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000686 
 
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 KPAO ID
SUBJECT: TANGERANG OFFICIALS WELCOME AVIAN INFLUENZA ASSISTANCE 
 
1.(U) Tangerang district's Bupati Ismet Iskondar thanked Ambassador 
Hume and Singapore's Deputy Chief of Mission Lim Hong Huai for 
contributions to the Tangerang Trilateral Project during an April 2 
discussion on avian influenza.  District and municipal officials 
asked the Ambassador to help farmers manage the disease in poultry, 
emphasizing that authorities are providing inadequate supplies of 
poultry vaccine.  One official explained that residents need 11 
million doses of poultry vaccine but had received only one million 
doses from the government.  The Ambassador remarked that while 
authorities have made progress to control the disease, considerable 
risk remained due to physical living space, economic constraints and 
current practices of raising poultry.  Local people depend on 
poultry as a source of income and protein but lack space to keep 
birds separate from living quarters. Tangerang likewise lacks 
sufficient space to separate bird markets from proximity of 
residential, hospital and retail areas. 
 
¶2. (U) While in Tangerang, the Ambassador toured a live bird market, 
a duck farm and the avian influenza referral hospital.  Hospital 
officials praised the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-2) for 
its contributions to influenza surveillance and expressed interest 
in greater collaboration with the United States.  Officials also 
emphasized the need for increased laboratory capacity to meet 
current demand for timely lab analysis. 
 
¶3. (U) Tangerang residents and journalists greeted the Ambassador at 
every site, many waiting to take his photograph or briefly speak 
with him. Numerous local papers featured stories of the visit and/or 
carried photos of the Ambassador's stop at a local bird market. 
Several articles highlighted U.S. assistance for avian influenza 
control efforts in Tangerang. 
 
¶4. (U) Jakarta's international airport is located in the Tangerang 
district. Tangerang has had more human AI cases (25 of 132 cases) 
than any other Indonesian district. Since October 2007, eleven of 
the last 24 cases have occurred in Tangerang, thereby increasing 
concern for addressing the avian influenza problem. 
 
HUME