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DE RUEHC #2335/01 2410005
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 280001Z AUG 08
FM SECSTATE WASHDC
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 STATE 092335 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KFLU AORC TBIO EAGR EAID PREL
SUBJECT: Support for Egypt's Ministerial Conference on 
Avian and Pandemic Influenza in Collaboration with 
IPAPI 
 
REF: 2007 State 159330 
 
SUMMARY 
 
¶1. This is an action request for Embassies to demarche 
host governments (foreign, health and agriculture 
ministries) to urge high-level participation in this 
year's major international conference on avian and 
pandemic influenza, to take place in Egypt October 25- 
¶26.  (See para 7.)  End Summary. 
 
BACKGROUND: Global Engagement on Avian and Pandemic 
Influenza 
 
¶2. The threat is real:  Highly pathogenic avian 
influenza continues to spread in birds, and experts 
fear that the H5N1 strain of the virus someday will 
mutate to become a deadly human pandemic.  In May, 
World Health Organization (WHO) Director General 
Margaret Chan labeled pandemic influenza (in addition 
to food security and climate change) as one of three 
global crises "looming on the horizon. The threat has 
by no means receded, and we would be very unwise to let 
down our guard, or slacken our preparedness measures." 
In early August, the UK Cabinet Office published its 
"National Risk Register" and told the media that a 
pandemic influenza is the most imminent and serious 
danger to the UK over the next five years. 
 
¶3. U.S. leadership:  Governments and international and 
regional organizations continue to regard preventing 
and responding to outbreaks of H5N1 in poultry and 
other animals, as well as preparing for a potentially 
catastrophic human pandemic, as priorities of the 
highest order.  These goals have remained key U.S. 
foreign policy objectives since President Bush 
announced the formation of the International 
Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza (IPAPI) at 
the UN General Assembly in September 2005.  IPAPI works 
closely with bilateral partners and with the United 
Nations System Influenza Coordinator (UNSIC), WHO, the 
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the World 
Organization for Animal Health (known by its initials 
in French as OIE), and with regional organizations such 
as the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the 
European Union and Commission.  Through the Security 
and Prosperity Partnership, the U.S., Canada and Mexico 
trilaterally are implementing the North American Plan 
for Avian and Pandemic Influenza. 
 
¶4. U.S. national strategy:  The U.S. strategy is to 
increase global capability and action to address the 
threat in three ways:  (1) preparedness and 
communication; (2) surveillance and detection; and (3) 
response and containment.  The U.S. National Strategy 
for Pandemic Influenza and National Implementation Plan 
can be found at www.pandemicflu.gov.  The Department of 
State is responsible for coordinating U.S. 
international engagement to implement the strategy. 
The Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global 
Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, oversees this effort on 
behalf of the Secretary.  The Special Representative on 
Avian and Pandemic Influenza, John Lange, reports to 
the Under Secretary and heads the Avian Influenza 
Action Group (G/AIAG), spearheading the USG's overall 
international response to avian and pandemic influenza. 
 
¶5. The Sharm el-Sheikh conference:  Beginning with the 
meeting of the International Partnership on Avian and 
Pandemic Influenza in Washington in October 2005, there 
has been a series of major international conferences 
organized by governments with strong support from the 
USG, IPAPI, the UN System, and the European 
Union/Commission (see reftel regarding the New Delhi 
conference in December 2007).  The Government of Egypt 
(GOE), in collaboration with IPAPI, will host the next 
such conference, the Sixth International Ministerial 
Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, in Sharm 
el-Sheikh October 25-26, 2008.  The conference will 
serve to advance the unprecedented cooperation among 
foreign, health and agriculture ministries to confront 
a global threat.  The GOE has issued invitations 
through its Embassies and its Mission to the UN in New 
York and at WHO and FAO conferences.  The USG, through 
USAID, is providing $500,000 in assistance to the GOE 
for the conference and we look forward to a successful 
event.  Posts are requested to demarche host 
 
STATE 00092335  002 OF 003 
 
SUBJECT: Support for Egypt's Ministerial Conference on 
Avian and Pandemic Influenza in Collaboration with 
IPA 
governments to ensure wide, high-level attendance at 
the conference.  The USG will be announcing another 
generous pledge of international assistance at the 
conference, and potential donor governments should be 
encouraged also to announce new pledges. 
 
¶6. Additional information:  For more information on the 
subjects covered in this cable, go to the following 
websites: 
www.pandemicflu.gov: General USG information on 
pandemic influenza. 
www.state.gov/g/avianflu : Fact sheets on U.S. 
international activities related to avian and pandemic 
influenza 
http://www.imcapi2008.gov.eg/ : Egypt's International 
Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza 
 
ACTION REQUEST 
 
¶7. Using the non-paper below, posts are requested to 
approach foreign, health and agriculture/livestock 
ministries of host governments to encourage high-level 
attendance, preferably at the ministerial level, at the 
conference and (where appropriate) pledges of 
assistance.  Please report on results.  We are 
especially eager to hear the plans of health and 
agriculture ministries, since coordination and 
cooperation between them is essential.  If for some 
reason a ministry indicates it has not received an 
invitation, please alert Department (G/AIAG, 
BoggessSM@state.gov) immediately. 
 
BEGIN TEXT: 
 
-- The spread of avian influenza and the possibility of 
a catastrophic human pandemic continue to pose a 
serious threat worldwide.  The threat is as great today 
as it was a few years ago. 
 
-- Highly pathogenic avian influenza has now been found 
in over 60 nations.  The World Bank estimates that two 
percent of all poultry in the developing world have 
died or been culled since 2003 as a result of avian 
influenza.  The disease is now endemic in poultry in 
several countries in Asia and Africa.  Of almost 400 
confirmed human cases of avian influenza, most have 
involved close contact between infected poultry and 
human victims and over 60 percent of those victims have 
died. 
 
-- Although no sustained and efficient human-to-human 
transmission of avian influenza has yet occurred, the 
potential exists that the H5N1 virus or some other 
circulating strain could mutate into a form that would 
lead to a global human pandemic.  Experts predict that 
a pandemic as severe as that of 1918 could kill tens of 
millions of people worldwide. 
 
-- The U.S. Government continues to be engaged at the 
highest levels in efforts to contain the spread of 
avian influenza and to prepare for a possible pandemic. 
We urge all nations to maintain their focus on this 
threat as a high priority for action to build capacity 
in the fight against avian and pandemic influenza. 
This global effort will also help improve preparedness 
for other emerging infectious diseases. 
 
-- Beginning with the meeting of the International 
Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in 
Washington in October 2005, governments and 
international and regional organizations have 
participated in a series of global conferences 
involving ministers and senior officials from foreign, 
health, and agriculture/livestock ministries: Beijing, 
China (January 2006); Vienna, Austria (June 2006); 
Bamako, Mali (December 2006); and New Delhi, India 
(December 2007).  The conferences have generated an 
unprecedented level of cross-sector cooperation among 
officials dealing with animal and human health.  At the 
New Delhi conference, the Government of India proposed 
a "Vision and Road Map" for focused action on avian 
influenza control and pandemic preparedness. 
Governments and regional organizations pledged 
additional funds for international assistance, bringing 
the total to $2.7 billion. 
 
-- The Government of Egypt, in collaboration with the 
International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic 
Influenza and international and regional organizations, 
is organizing the next major, international, 
ministerial-level conference on avian and pandemic 
influenza in Sharm el-Sheikh on October 25-26, 2008. 
Attendees will include ministers and other senior 
 
STATE 00092335  003 OF 003 
 
SUBJECT: Support for Egypt's Ministerial Conference on 
Avian and Pandemic Influenza in Collaboration with 
IPA 
officials from foreign, health, and agriculture 
ministries around the world as well as the United 
Nations System Influenza Coordinator and top officials 
from the World Health Organization, the Food and 
Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for 
Animal Health, and the World Bank. 
 
-- The agenda for the conference, which will be opened 
by the Egyptian Prime Minister, includes a review of 
best practices and challenges related to control of 
highly pathogenic avian influenza in animals (bio- 
security, vaccination, governance of veterinary 
services, socio-economic implications, and risk 
communication);  a review of best practices and 
challenges related to pandemic preparedness and 
response (containment, multi-sectoral planning, 
humanitarian preparedness, risk communication and 
inter-country pandemic preparedness); and development 
of a long-term strategy for control of avian influenza 
and other diseases emerging at the animal-human 
interface. 
 
-- U.S. Government goals for the conference include the 
following: 
 
a) Ensuring, on an urgent basis, continued global 
action by governments, international and regional 
organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the 
private sector to build long-term capacity to confront 
the spread of avian influenza and to prepare for a 
potential human pandemic; 
 
b)  Improving communication and transparency in 
reporting influenza outbreaks and sharing virus samples 
in order to track changes in the virus for purposes of 
planning timely interventions to prevent human 
infections and, more broadly, for the benefit of global 
public health; 
 
c)  Demonstrating that the U.S. Government, along with 
other donors, is meeting its commitments and increasing 
its international assistance to support nations in 
confronting avian and pandemic influenza; and 
 
d)  Strengthening international cooperation on avian 
and pandemic influenza and, more broadly, on emerging 
and re-emerging infectious diseases at the 
animal/human/ecosystem interface. 
 
-- The U.S. delegation is expected to include a Cabinet 
Secretary and very senior representatives from the 
Departments of State, Health and Human Services, and 
Agriculture, plus the U.S. Agency for International 
Development. 
 
-- This strong U.S. delegation reflects the seriousness 
of this issue and the importance of the Sharm el-Sheikh 
conference.  Accordingly, we hope your government will 
also be represented at the ministerial level at the 
conference.  We would appreciate knowing your 
government's plans and we ask that you inform the 
Government of Egypt of those plans if you have not 
already done so. 
 
Additional point for WHA Embassies (other than Ottawa 
and Mexico), since WHA countries may dismiss the 
seriousness of the problem because the highly 
pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus has not yet 
appeared in the Western Hemisphere: 
-- Given the possibility that the highly pathogenic 
H5N1 strain of avian influenza may soon spread to the 
Western Hemisphere, it is important that Latin American 
and Caribbean nations attend the conference to 
understand current international community efforts to 
thwart the virus in birds and to redouble efforts to 
prepare to contain a human pandemic. 
 
Additional point for potential donor governments: 
-- The Sharm el-Sheikh conference will include a 
session for the announcement of additional pledges of 
international assistance.  We hope that you can pledge 
new or additional assistance, as well as meet past 
commitments to fight avian and pandemic influenza and 
prepare.  The U.S. Government, which to date has 
pledged a total of $629 million in international 
assistance, plans to announce additional funding 
greater than our $195 million pledge in December 2007 
in New Delhi. 
 
END TEXT OF NON-PAPER 
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