US embassy cable - 05ABUDHABI4225

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 004225 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, KSCA, EAGR, ECON, PREL, SOCI, WHO, FAO, OIE, 
SENV, TC 
SUBJECT: UAEG PREPARES FOR AVIAN INFLUENZA 
 
REF: A. STATE 181885 
     B. STATE 183738 
     C. STATE 182324 
     D. STATE 180478 
     E. STATE 175585 
 
 1.  (U) Summary:  Recently, the UAEG established a task 
force to devise a contingency plan to block avian influenza 
from entering the country.  As such, the Agriculture and 
Fisheries Ministry has imposed a ban on the import of live 
birds and their products from countries where cases of the 
disease have been detected.  The Ministry has also banned 
poultry from flu-infected countries unless an approved lab 
certifies it to be disease-free for fifteen days before 
imported.  Subsequent to the plan,s announcement, embassy 
nurses met with the Director of Infectious Disease, Dr. 
Farida Al Hosseini, to further discuss the UAEG,s avian flu 
preparations.  End Summary. 
 
2.  (U) The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi recently released a 
35 million dirham (9.5 million USD) plan to combat bird flu. 
Under the plan, if poultry or any birds test positive for 
either high or low pathogenic avian influenza virus they will 
be destroyed immediately, including all contaminated feed, 
waste products and other potentially infectious material. 
The plan also provides that any chicken coops, equipment, 
containers, vehicles or other items that may have come in 
contact with the infected bird, will be disinfected. 
Furthermore, poultry workers, zoo staff, pet shop employees, 
veterinarians and breeding centers will also be screened for 
the disease.  Sampling will also be conducted of suspected 
airport passengers showing symptoms of the bird flu. 
Environment Agency Secretary General, Majid Al-Mansouri, told 
Econchief that he was working on the UAEG,s plans.  He had 
originally been tasked with the program for the Emirate of 
Abu Dhabi, but the government expanded his agency,s 
responsibilities.  Al-Mansouri will be meeting with a 
delegation on climate change so is unable to attend the 
October 6-7 high level meeting in Washington. 
 
3.  (U) On October 1, the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Fisheries held a seminar at the Abu Dhabi Food Control 
Authority regarding preventative measures for avian 
influenza.  Saeed Mohammed Al Raqbani, Minister of 
Agriculture and Fisheries, said that the bird flu was a 
serious threat to human health.  As such, the UAE has banned 
the import of birds from countries which are known to have 
the avian influenza. 
 
4.  (U) On October 4, embassy nurses met with the Director of 
Infectious Disease for the Preventive Medicine Clinic in Abu 
Dhabi, Dr. Farida Al Hosseini, to discuss avian flu 
preparations in the UAE.  Dr. Hosseini stated that the UAEG 
originally requested 3,000,000 doses of Tamiflu, but 
reportedly increased its request to 100,000,000 doses.  The 
supplier of the drug is expected to send less than the 
3,000,000 doses originally requested in the next few weeks. 
The UAEG does not know whether it will receive the remainder 
of the Tamiflu requested. 
 
5.  (SBU) Dr. Al Hosseini told embassy nurses that the task 
force committee has not yet established any guidelines 
concerning who will receive the Tamiflu in the event of an 
outbreak.  Dispensing protocol will be decided once the 
Tamiflu is received.  One hospital in each UAE city will act 
as an isolation center in the event of an outbreak.  These 
hospitals are being provided with protective equipment.  Dr. 
Hosseini also stated that the Preventative Health Clinic has 
prepared educational pamphlets to hand out to the public if 
there is an outbreak in the country.  At this point, the UAEG 
is not doing any outreach for fear of causing a panic. 
Furthermore, no official guidelines have been given to health 
care providers regarding treatment of the disease. 
 
6.  (SBU) There is currently no testing facility in the UAE 
to verify the presence of the bird flu.  The UAEG requested 
help in setting up a lab, but according to Dr. Al Hosseini, 
that request was turned down by the WHO since no actual case 
of the bird flu has been found in the UAE.  Dr. Al Hosseini 
stated that the task force is independently trying to set up 
a testing facility where the preliminary results would be 
known in twenty minutes. 
 
7.   (U) The UAE delegate to the IPAPI Senior Officials 
meeting October 7-8 will be the Director of Plant Quarantine 
at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mohammed Moussa Abdullah, 
date of birth: September 16, 1964;  passport number: 
A1247998. 
QUINN