VZCZCXRO5732
OO RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHHM #0429/01 1491034
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O P 291034Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5814
INFO RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA PRIORITY 0006
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 3807
RUEHHM/AMCONSUL HO CHI MINH CITY PRIORITY 6050

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HO CHI MINH CITY 000429 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/MLS, USAID/ANE, EEB/TPP/BTA/ANA 
USDOC FOR 4431/MAC/AP/OPB/VLC/HPPHO 
CDC FOR COGH (SBLOUNT), CCID (SREDD) AND DIV-FLU (NCOX/AMOHEN) 
HHS/OSSI/DSI PASS TO FIC/NIH (RGLASS) AND OGHA (DMILLER/MABDOO) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO AMED EAGR ECON PINR KFLU VM
SUBJECT: TFLU01: INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH POWERS HCMC H1N1 INFLUENZA A 
DIAGNOSTICS EFFORT 
 
REF: HCMC 338 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000429  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  HCMC's Tropical Disease Hospital (TDH) was 
the first in Vietnam to develop the capacity to identify the 
novel influenza A/H1N1 virus in humans.  Instead of waiting for 
World Health Organization/Centers for Disease Control diagnostic 
kits, researchers at the TDH independently designed their own 
kits, and began screening in late April (sending specimens from 
suspect cases to international laboratories for confirmation). 
This put them some three weeks ahead of Hanoi's National 
Institutes of Hygiene and Epidemiology (NIHE), the sole 
WHO-designated National Influenza Center laboratory in Vietnam, 
and the only laboratory other than TDH currently with the 
capacity to make laboratory identifications of the new virus. 
The advanced capabilities and pro-active mind set of the TDH are 
a result of many years of international cooperation in health 
research, and the presence of ten international post-doctoral 
researchers.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Rapid and reliable virus subtype identification is 
critical for accurate diagnosis of human influenza infections, 
surveillance, and effective response to outbreaks.  It is 
required to identify the novel influenza A/H1N1 strain of 
pandemic concern.  The molecular biologic technique polymerase 
chain reaction (PCR) has become the international standard for 
virus subtype identification.  The selectivity of the PCR for a 
particular virus subtype results from the use of specific primer 
molecules, which are short, custom-made strands of DNA.  These 
primers are a component of the PCR influenza A H1N1 diagnostics 
kits that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) are 
providing to the World Health Organization (WHO) for world-wide 
distribution.  The molecular sequence necessary to design and 
synthesize primer molecules for the novel influenza A H1N1 virus 
were posted by CDC on publicly accessible websites in the third 
week of April. 
 
Waiting for WHO? 
--------------- 
¶3. (SBU)  Using the publicly available data over the Internet, 
TDH's microbiology laboratory scientists designed the primers 
required to identify the H1N1 virus on April 20, ordered them 
from a commercial supplier in Singapore, and received them four 
days later, Deputy Director of HCMC's Tropical Disease Hospital 
(TDH) Dr. Tran Tinh Hien told EconOff.  Shortly thereafter, the 
TDH began using the kits to test patients with influenza 
symptoms. Meanwhile, WHO-approved, CDC-provided primer kits 
destined for Vietnam were delayed in shipping and transit and 
did not arrive at the Ministry of Health's (MOH) National 
Influenza Center lab in Hanoi until mid-May. 
 
Years of Cooperation Pay Off 
---------------------------- 
¶4. (SBU) Dr. Hien credited many years of international 
cooperation in health research, from early collaborative work on 
malaria, dengue fever and other tropical diseases, to later work 
on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, for the TDH's high 
technical capability and the proactive mindset of its 
researchers.  The TDH is the rare institution in Vietnam that 
hosts significant numbers of visiting foreign research 
scientists, ten of which are currently working in the TDH's labs 
according to Dr. Hien.  The U.K.'s Welcome Trust and the U.S. 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) have provided most of the 
TDH's infectious diseases research support, while academic 
collaboration has been primarily with Australian and British 
universities, according to Dr. Hien. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Scientists at the MoH's National Influenza Center 
informed Embassy HHS staff in April that they had the capability 
to design their own primers for commercial production and 
procurement, but chose not to follow the TDH course.  They 
preferred to wait for the WHO approved PCR diagnostic kits from 
CDC because they included protocols and "positive controls that 
allowed testing to be done by internationally accepted 
procedures."  Other regional Ministry of Health laboratories in 
Vietnam are scheduled to receive diagnostic materials and 
training in the first week of June.  The MoH laboratories, have, 
however had the ability throughout to identify unsubtypable 
influenza A strains as suspicious for the novel influenza A/H1N1 
strain. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
¶6. (SBU) The TDH's cutting edge success in developing the 
 
HO CHI MIN 00000429  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
diagnostic capability to identify novel influenza A/H1N1 
demonstrates the value of international scientific cooperation, 
not only in providing technology transfer, but also in fostering 
forward-looking mindsets.  Working side by side with foreign 
researchers, the TDH scientists developed a 'whatever it takes' 
mentality reminiscent of the ethos in academic and private 
laboratories in industrialized countries.  Conversely, the 
approach of the MoH's National Influenza Center laboratory 
necessarily has taken a more conservative path, given its 
governmental role, and its public health responsibility to 
confirm cases.  The pro-active, competitive mentality of the 
TDH's scientist will serve Vietnam well in both current and 
future health emergencies.  End Comment. 
 
¶7. (U) This cable was coordinated with Embassy Hanoi. 
DICKEY