US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV5279

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 005279 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR OES/PCI, NEA/IPA AND NEA/RA 
USDA FOR APHIS/US/NCIE 
HHS FOR OGHA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, ECON, PREL, SOCI, EAGR, IS, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
SUBJECT: AVIAN FLU PREPAREDNESS IN ISRAEL - A MAJOR 
MIGRATORY BIRD HUB 
 
REF: STATE 153802 
 
 SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  The GOI is putting together plans for 
dealing with a possible outbreak of Avian Influenza (AI) and 
will share those with Embassy once available.  The Ministry 
of Health has purchased USD 10 million worth of the Tamiflu 
vaccine and has been in contact with international agencies 
and U.S. counterparts.  The Health and Agriculture Ministries 
will inform Embassy of any cases of AI in Israel.  No cases 
have been discovered to date.  The senior GOI point of 
contact for AI preparedness is the Director General of the 
Ministry of Health, Avi Yisraeli.  Approximately half a 
billion migratory birds pass over Israel twice a year, 
including about 90 percent of the migratory populations 
originating in Russia.  End Summary. 
 
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GOI Has Spent NIS 44 Million on Tamiflu Vaccine 
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2. (SBU) Ministry of Health Director General Avi Yisraeli 
told ESTH Officer August 25 that the GOI shares USG concerns 
about Avian Influenza (AI).  Yisraeli is the senior GOI point 
of contact on AI preparations.  He has been in contact with 
international agencies and U.S. counterparts.  DG Yisraeli 
can be reached at 972-2-670-5706.  Yisraeli said that the GOI 
was in the early stages of AI preparations.  He promised to 
share plans with Embassy as they are developed by the Health 
Ministry and other ministries.  The Health Ministry has spend 
NIS 44 million (approximately USD 10 million) to buy a supply 
of the Tamiflu vaccine manufactured by Roche of Switzerland. 
Tamiflu is a neuraminidase inhibitor which attacks enzymes in 
flu viruses to limit their ability to multiply in the body. 
It is taken by mouth in capsule form.  The Health Ministry 
believes that the wide availability of Tamiflu in the health 
basket will assist in controlling an outbreak of the H5N1 
virus if it were to occur in Israel.  The Ministry of 
Agriculture will also inform Embassy if it discovers any 
cases of AI. 
 
3. (SBU) The MOH Head of Epidemiology told ESTH Assistant 
August 24 that the GOI plan for prevention and control of AI 
should be published in Hebrew shortly.  Based on the GOI's 
response to the SARS virus, he expected that a similar 
comprehensive health education website will be developed 
quickly in both Hebrew and English if the global incidence of 
AI increases rapidly. 
 
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Israel a Major Route for Migratory Birds 
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4. (U) Israel is a major thoroughfare for migratory birds 
from Russia, Europe and Asia.  According to Dr. Yossi Leshem, 
head of the Migratory Bird Center and former executive 
director of the Society for the Preservation of Nature in 
Israel, an estimated five hundred and fifty million birds fly 
over Israel twice a year, heading north to breeding grounds 
in Europe and Asia from March through May, and south to 
forage in Africa from August through November.  Tens of 
thousands of birds can stop in Israel to feed and rest at any 
given time. 
 
5. (SBU) Dr. Gidon Perlman, an associate of Leshem's, told 
ESTH Assistant August 24 that many of the wild birds that fly 
across Israel are asymptomatic carriers of a number of 
different AI types, including H5, H7 and H9.  Perlman said 
that 90 percent of the migratory birds originating in Russia 
transit Israel.  He noted that a number of different species 
overfly Israel traveling between Siberia and the U.K. 
Perlman said that no special monitoring of wild bird 
populations for AI is taking place at present.  He commented 
that because pigs are not raised on a large scale in Israel 
there is less risk of zoonotic transmission.  Nonetheless, if 
there is an outbreak of H5N1, it would be necessary to cull 
wild birds and poultry in affected areas.  Perlman felt that 
the scale of reported wild bird culling in Russia was an 
ineffective method of disease prevention and control, due to 
the way the virus mutates, making it difficult to predict the 
impact on birds, domestic animals and livestock and humans 
residing in affecting areas. 
 
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KURTZER