US embassy cable - 05VIENNA3060

UNCLAS VIENNA 003060 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
 
TAGS: TBIO, ECON, PREL, SOCI, AU, KSTH, WHO 
SUBJECT: AUSTRIAN VIEWS ON THE AVIAN INFLUENZA THREAT 
 
REF: STATE 153802 
 
1.  (U) DCM delivered reftel points to Clemens Auer, the 
 
Minister of Health's Chief of Staff, on September 8.  APHIS 
 
also discussed avian flu issues with Johann Herzog, Ministry 
 
of Health Advisor for Veterinary Affairs, Medicine, 
 
Biotechnology, and Food Safety; and with Johan Damoser, 
 
Austria's Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO).  Auer said that on 
 
September 6, the GoA's Council of Ministers had approved a 
 
National Plan to address the threat of avian flu and a human 
 
pandemic.  Auer told us the GoA used differentiated 
 
strategies towards the H5N1 avian flu and any new strain that 
 
could become infectious between humans.  Austria's National 
 
Plan, which Auer passed to us, includes plans to address the 
 
threat to agriculture, as well as plans to deal with an 
 
influenza pandemic. 
 
Response to H5N1 Avian Influenza 
 
-------------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) Auer pointed out that the GoA has been taking 
 
precautionary measures to monitor bird breeding grounds and 
 
migratory routes for several years.  Herzog told us that the 
 
GoA had instituted heightened surveillance of birds since the 
 
outbreak in Russia, checking "hundreds of wild birds and 
 
thousands of domestic birds."  Veterinary officials have not 
 
ordered farms to place free-range poultry indoors.  Austria 
 
does not lie on major migratory routes from the Trans-Urals. 
 
The last case of avian flu in Austria was in 1953.  In the 
 
event of infected birds, the National Plan envisages 
 
increased surveillance, establishment of national and 
 
regional crisis centers, closure of farms, quarantining 
 
entire regions, and vaccination of poultry. 
 
Austrian Strategy Against an Influenza Pandemic 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
3.  (U) The National Plan recognizes the potential for the 
 
virus to mutate into a strain that is infectious between 
 
humans.  Measures to deal with a pandemic include the 
 
following: a detailed elaboration of responsibilities for 
 
health care and law enforcement officials; a surveillance 
 
program; and the legal framework for these measures. 
 
4.  (SBU) Auer told us that Austria was unsuccessfully 
 
attempting to order a sufficient stockpile -- for 20% of 
 
Austria's population of 8 million -- of the anti-viral drug 
 
Tamiflu from Roche Austria.  Auer complained that Roche was 
 
insisting that it did not have enough Tamiflu to fill the 
 
government's order and was charging the MoH Euro 27 for a 
 
pack of 10 tablets.  Auer added that he would work within EU 
 
structures to try to persuade Roche to be more cooperative. 
 
According to press reports, the states of Lower Austria, 
 
Burgenland, and Vienna have already stockpiled Tamiflu for 
 
"front-line workers." 
 
5.  (U) According to Auer, preparing for a possible avian 
 
pandemic required a proper mix between anti-viral drugs and 
 
vaccines.  Baxter Austria notified the MoH that, thanks to a 
 
technological improvement, it would be able to produce an 
 
effective vaccine against a mutated avian flu strain within 
 
six weeks after the virus emerged.  Auer contrasted this with 
 
the normal 3-4 month gap between an outbreak and the 
 
production of a vaccine. 
 
Brown