Cablegate: Indonesia - January 19 Avian Influenza (Ai) Update

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TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA - JANUARY 19 AVIAN INFLUENZA (AI) UPDATE

REF: A) Jakarta 00107 B) Jakarta 00033

1. (SBU) Summary. The Governor of Jakarta signed a regulation on
January 17 prohibiting all backyard farming of poultry in
residential areas in Jakarta by February 1. However, at a
subsequent meeting organized by the National Committee on Avian
Influenza Control and Pandemic Preparedness (KOMNAS), key
stakeholders expressed skepticism about the Jakarta city
government's ability to implement the regulation. On January 18,
Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari said that the central
government would extend the ban on backyard chickens to eight other
provinces. The Mission's Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU-2) has
confirmed two additional human AI cases since Ref A, one of whom has
died, and ruled out H5N1 on forty other suspected cases. Dr. Rodney
Hoff from the REDI Center in Singapore visited Jakarta from January
14-17 and discussed the Tangerang Trilateral Project with officials
from KOMNAS, the Ministry of Health, and the Singaporean Embassy.
End Summary.

Jakarta Administration Issues Poultry Ban
------------------------------------------

2. (U) On January 17, the Jakarta city administration issued
Gubernatorial Regulation No. 5/200 banning backyard farming of
poultry in residential areas in order to curb the spread of avian
influenza. The regulation outlines five poultry restrictions:

--The Jakarta city government asks residents to voluntarily dispose
of fowl before January 31 by properly consuming, selling or
slaughtering them.

--Beginning on February 1, residents will be prohibited from raising
fowl (chickens, ducks, swans, pigeons and quail) in their backyards.

--Researchers and owners of pet birds must apply for health
certificates from the Jakarta Animal Husbandry and Fisheries Agency
if they want to keep birds.

--City authorities will relocate all commercial fowl-breeding sites,
poultry storage facilities, and slaughterhouses to designated areas,
away from residential areas.

--The transportation of poultry within Jakarta will be regulated
with detailed ordinances in the future.

3. (U) Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso urged Jakarta residents to support
the policy and noted that the city will develop future regulations
on commercial poultry farming. The city's animal husbandry agency
estimates that residents in about half of the city's houses keep
birds, and that each of the more than 2,600 neighborhoods in the
city is home to approximately 1,000 fowl. Media reports have
provided conflicting information about whether the Jakarta
government will compensate private and commercial poultry owners for
birds they cull. Some reports suggest that compensation will be
approximately Rp 12,000 (USD 1.30) per fowl. However, authorities
have not announced where this funding will come from or how
officials will administer the scheme.

Stakeholder Meeting on New Decree
---------------------------------

4. (SBU) Following the announcement, KOMNAS convened a meeting of
key stakeholders, including the World Health Organization, Food and
Agricultural Organization (FAO), UNICEF, USAID, and World Bank to
discuss the announcement and seek assistance with implementation.
Bayu Krisnamurthi, KOMNAS Executive Director was positive about
Jakarta's policy but acknowledged many questions about
implementation and the economic impact on poultry workers. Bayu
asked for FAO support in developing an animal health certificate
system for birds allowed under the regulation. Bayu also noted that
the Governor plans to relocate poultry collection points to
approximately four areas on the periphery of Jakarta, including one
location in Tangerang but that this plan has not yet been negotiated
with the governors of neighboring provinces.

5. (SBU) Bayu said he anticipates that infrastructure costs to
implement the plan would be financed out of the Jakarta city budget.
International organization participants expressed a willingness to
help, but echoed KOMNAS' concerns, noting that the movement of large
numbers of poultry in the next two weeks could increase the risk of
spreading H5N1, and that the decree would prompt people to keep
poultry illegally and complicate the implementation of prevention
and control programs.

Regions Next For Bird Ban
--------------------------

6. (U) On January 18, Minister of Health Siti Fadilah Supari told
the press that the central government plans to extend the ban on
backyard poultry in the capital to eight other provinces.
Additionally, the government is asking that regional administrations
implement a ban on slaughtering chickens outside of slaughtering
houses and increase monitoring of poultry traffic. The eight
provinces likely to receive the background poultry ban reportedly
include Banten, West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra,
West Sumatra, Lampung, and South Sulawesi.

NAMRU-2 Identifies Additional Cases
-----------------------------------

7. (SBU) NAMRU-2 reports two additional cases of human H5N1
infection since Ref A, both of which were confirmed by the U.S. CDC
on January 19. At the same time, NAMRU-2 has ruled out H5N1 virus
during tests of more than forty other suspected cases mentioned in
various media reports. The two new cases include a 27-year-old
female from South Jakarta and an 18-year-old male from Serpong,
Tangerang. The 27-year-old female was admitted to the hospital on
January 11 and died January 12. The 18-year-old male reported to
Persahabatan Hospital in Jakarta on January 11. Although stable, he
remains on a ventilator. He is the son of a 37-year-old female who
died of H5N1 on January 9 at the same hospital. The father of the
18-year-old male has tested negative for H5N1 infection by RT-PCR
but remains a suspected case until he can be ruled out following
antibody tests. Authorities believe both individuals had contact
with dead poultry.

8. (SBU) NAMRU-2 data indicates the following AI-related case
profile as of January 19:

-- Number of laboratory confirmed (positive PCR and/or serology)
human AI cases: 79, of which 61 have been fatal (case fatality rate
of 77 percent).

-- Number of probable AI cases: 4, of which 2 are fatal (case
fatality rate of 50%).

-- Number of cases awaiting analysis at the U.S. CDC: 0.

-- Number of possible untested AI cases under investigation (last 30
days): 27.

Note: NAMRU-2 data corresponds with Ministry of Health (MOH) data
but may vary at times with AI case figures presented on the official
World Health Organization (WHO) website, which usually lags NAMRU-2
data by one week. The WHO website, last updated on January 15,
notes 79 human AI cases in Indonesia with 61 deaths. For WHO
figures, log onto their website at
www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza.

REDI Center Representative Discusses Tangerang Project
--------------------------------------------- ----

9. (SBU) Dr. Rodney Hoff from the Regional Emerging Diseases
Investigation Center (REDI) visited Jakarta January 14-17 to meet
with GOI officials and others dealing with AI management and
preparedness and discuss the Tangerang Trilateral Project. Hoff
told us KOMNAS is taking a stronger leadership and coordinating role
in the Tangerang project, but lacks the capacity to implement
projects on the ground. Dr. Tri Satya Putri Naipospos, Secretary to
KOMNAS, proposes to set up a team consisting of officials from the
Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture, and Tangerang District
and Municipal authorities to draft a Tangerang project operational
plan for stakeholders' review at a workshop in late February. The
GOI has still not identified a project director nor finalized its
MOU with Singapore.

PASCOE

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