VZCZCXRO8225
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHGH #0556 3520941
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 170941Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL SHANGHAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7446
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 2372
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1623
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 0082
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 1791
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 1615
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI 1416
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 8057

UNCLAS SHANGHAI 000556 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA FOR DLP AND FAS/OCRA/CHINA 
HHS FOR OGHA/STEIGER 
CDC ATLANTA FOR CCID AND COGH 
STATE FOR EAP/CM, OES/IHA, AIAG, CA/OCS/ACS/EAP, AND MED 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR KFLU TBIO PINR AMED
SUBJECT: AVIAN INFLUENZA DETECTED IN EAST CHINA: 377,000 CHICKENS 
CULLED 
 
This message is Sensitive But Unclassified and for official use 
only.  Not for distribution outside of U.S. Government channels 
or via the internet. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY: Following the discovery of the H5N1 Avian 
Influenza Virus in Dongtai and Haian, Jiangsu province, 
authorities have culled 377,000 chickens.  Preliminary analysis 
indicates that the virus could have been spread by migratory 
birds and that it is a different variety than that which is 
usually found in southern China.  Authorities have implemented 
measures to prevent the spread of the virus.  The Japanese 
Consulate has expressed concerns over a possible widespread 
outbreak.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (U) Reports indicate that routine testing has showed a 
presence of the H5N1 Avian Influenza (AI) virus in farms in 
Haian County and Dongtai city, both in Jiangsu province 
(approximately 200 miles northwest of Shanghai).  As a result, 
Jiangsu officials have culled 377,000 chickens.  At present, 
there have been no reports of human cases of AI. 
 
¶3.  (U) According to a statement from the Ministry of 
Agriculture, Jiangsu veterinary authorities reported the 
incident on December 15, and the Ministry has notified the World 
Animal Health Organization (OIE).  Preliminary analysis by 
ministry experts have indicated that the virus could have been 
spread by migratory birds passing through the area and that it 
was a different variety that that which was usually found in 
southern China.  The statement claimed that based on mandatory 
AI inspections, the immunity to AI of Jiangsu's animal 
population is 89 percent, higher than 70 percent national 
standard.  The statement also said that Jiangsu authorities have 
stopped the transport of all poultry and poultry products from 
the two areas and were sterilizing the poultry farms in those 
locations and nearby regions to prevent the spread of the virus. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) The Consulate attempted to get further information 
from authorities in the Jiangsu Health Bureau, Provincial Center 
for Disease Control, and the Provincial Agriculture Bureau. 
Contacts were unavailable for comment or were unaware of the 
report of the outbreak.  We have also attempted to contact 
Shanghai health officials for their comment, but have not 
received any response.  Post will continue to follow-up for 
additional information. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) At a December 17 lunch with the Consul General, the 
Japanese Consul General in Shanghai Yutaka Yokoi, citing reports 
of the AI outbreak in Jiangsu, raised the issue.  He said he 
would be speaking with members of the local Japanese community 
to ask any of those with concerns over a possible AI outbreak to 
consider returning to Japan sooner rather than later.  Yokoi 
indicated he was worried because it was not possible to predict 
whether or when AI would begin to spread among humans.  Once an 
outbreak was confirmed it was already too late.  The Japanese 
Consulate General, he stressed, was not prepared to handle a 
mass exodus of Japanese nationals in such an event.  The U.S. 
Consulate's nurse also reported that her counterpart in the 
Japanese Consulate showed unusual alarm over AI. 
 
¶6.  (U) In December 2007, Jiangsu authorities reported the death 
of a twenty-four year old male due to the H5N1 AI virus.  That 
was the first such report of any Avian Influenza incident in 
Jiangsu province.  According to media reports, this week's AI 
incident was the first such public report from China since June 
¶2008. 
 
CAMP