US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4384

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 004384 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, EAID, ECON, ETRD, KSCA, TBIO, IZ 
SUBJECT: AVIAN FLU OUTBREAK DOES NOT POSE SIGNIFICANT 
RISK TO HUMANS 
 
 
1. SUMMARY: The H9N2 strain of avian flu virus 
detected in the northern governorates does not pose a 
significant health risk to humans.  The GOI is 
responding and developing response and prevention 
plans.  An Embassy task force is following the 
situation and assisting the GOI as necessary and 
appropriate.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. On October 11, Kurdish farmers in Irbil and 
Sulaymaniyah notified local government officials of 
several thousand poultry deaths.  Kurdish officials 
requested USG assistance to investigate.  On October 
13, a virology-veterinary expert from the Naval 
Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) in Cairo, which serves 
as the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional 
Reference Laboratory, took samples from six birds on 
one farm in Irbil.  The test results indicated that 
the birds were infected with the H9N2 strain of avian 
influenza.  The NAMRU test results agreed with tests 
done by the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) in 
February during an earlier outbreak of poultry deaths. 
The NAMRU test results also correlate with the H9N2 
strain detected in eastern Turkey. 
 
3. The GOI is responding to the H9N2 outbreak by: 
 
-- Contacting the WHO for assistance with procedures 
and equipment; 
-- Prohibiting the importation of chicken products and 
eggs; 
-- Conducting a media campaign to educate farmers and 
the general population; 
-- Requiring regular reporting of any abnormal bird 
and poultry situations; 
-- Prohibiting the hunting, consumption, and transport 
of migratory birds. 
 
In addition, the Kurdish Ministries of Agriculture and 
Health have invited the central Baghdad ministries to 
participate in meetings in Sulaymaniyah to develop 
further response and prevention plans for the Kurdish 
governorates.  The Kurdish governorates also are doing 
further testing of poultry farms to determine the 
extent of infection.  The Ministries of Agriculture 
and Health in Baghdad are standing up a working group 
to develop unified, Iraq-wide response and prevention 
plans. 
 
4. An Embassy task force -- led by IRMO and including 
the Health Attache, MNF-I, USDA, USAID, Public 
Affairs, and ECON -- is following the avian flu 
situation and assisting the GOI as necessary and 
appropriate.