Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004
Update on the Avian Influenza situation (As of 08/02/2004) – Issue no. 4
The information summarized below is gathered from official and non official sources, which are quoted in the text. AIDE news is prepared by the FAO Technical Task force on Avian Influenza.
As of 08/02/2004, High Pathogenic Avian Influenza has been reported in nearly half of the provinces of China and most of the provinces of Viet Nam. However, the number of countries affected remains the same since the last update.
1. Summary of the situation
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) confirmed:
¾ According to different media reports, HPAI - H5N1 has been reported in Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Japan, Korea, Indonesia and China.
1 Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004
¾ China: On 08/02/2004 outbreaks, Xishan district of Kunming City (Yunnan province), Xigu district of Lanzhou City (Gansu province) are suspected. The previously reported suspected cases in Ezhou City (Hubei province), Pingyu county (Henan province), Guangde County, Yushan District of Ma'anshan City, Jieshou City, and Yingzhou District of Fuyang City (Anhui Province) and Qingyunpu district of Nanchang City and Guixi City (Jiangxi Province) are confirmed as H5N1 by the National AI Reference Lab. The total numbers of confirmed / suspected outbreaks are now 31.
¾ Viet Nam: new cases were reported in North, Central and South Viet Nam on 04/02/2004. The Ministry of Health informed that 2 additional cases were confirmed.
¾ Thailand: The government reported on 04/02/2004 two more human cases suspected, while ruling out on previously suspected case.
¾ Cambodia: Two outbreaks of bird flu have been reported in the suburbs of Phnom Penh on 05/02/2004 as well as a third one at the Tamao Zoo (47 kms south of the capital).
¾ South Korea: Ducks at two farms in Asan, Chungchong-namdo province (90 Km south of Seoul) were confirmed to have been infected.
NB: maps available at: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/health/diseases-cards/avian_update.html
Other strains:
¾ In Taiwan Province of China, eight more farms found to be affected with avian influenza virus (H5N2, low pathogenic strain). Outbreaks are found in its Northern, Central and Southern counties.
Under investigation / rumours and suspicions / other information:
¾ China: Death of wild finches were observed near Shanghai in the city of Tai Zho, Jiangsu Province.
¾ Thailand: Dead birds found at Dusit Zoo were tested at Mahidol University, and the early lab tests detected the H5 strain in crows, but did not reveal whether it is N1 strain. Tests were also conducted on city birds, on 06/02/2004, including pigeons and sparrows at Sanam Luang national park where 20 dead birds found.
¾ Nepal: More than 200 chickens died in the past 10 days in Bara district.
¾ India: In Dhubri district, lower Assam, about 1,000 poultry birds had died since January but none of the villages reported deaths in one day or in a large batch. A survey was conducted in 29 villages and the results determined the cause of the deaths due to coccidiosis, chronic respiratory disease and bacilliary white diarrhoea.
2 Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004
¾ Malaysia: A chicken breeder in Kuala Sedaka has been dumping chicken carcasses from his farm into Sungai Sedaka River.
Control strategies currently in implementation (see appendix):
¾ Countries that are planning/starting mass slaughter of poultry are: Thailand, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Pakistan, China, Taiwan Province of China
¾ Vaccination has been started/ordered in: China (Central & Southern), Taiwan province of China, Hong Kong SAR, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
¾ Vehicle control at major route started in China.
¾ Thailand will report the country's updated situation everyday in response to the call for global cooperation in stopping the spread of the avian influenza, including transparent reports on situations made by the FAO/OIE/WHO Technical Consultation on the Control of Avian Influenza.
2. Countries affected (as of 02/02/2004)
country date source* type Animals Human comments reported affected affected Korea 15/12/03 OIE H5N1 broiler, duck no and quail Viet Nam 8/01/04 OIE H5N1 Broiler yes >40 provinces Japan 12/01/04 OIE H5N1 Layer no under control Taiwan 20/01/04 OIE H5N2 Layer, native no low pathogenic province of chicken, China duck Thailand 23/01/04 OIE H5 (N1) Layer yes 32 provinces Cambodia 24/01/04 OIE and H5N1 Layer, duck no govern- ment Hong Kong, 26/01/04 OIE H5N1 Peregrine no wild birds SAR falcon China 26/01/04 gphin, H5N1 duck and no 31 cases in 13 Chinese chicken provinces & 1 govern- autonomous ment region and OIE (suspected/ confirmed) Lao, PDR 27/01/04 OIE H5N1 layer no Pakistan 28/01/04 OIE H7 layer no Indonesia 29/01/04 OIE H5N1 Chicken, duck suspect- chicken have and quail ed been dying since August United 06/02/04 gphin H7 (low Chicken (non- no Kent County, States of patho- commercial Delaware State America genic ?) flock) **Gphin: Global Public Health Intelligence Network (Health Canada)
3 Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004
3. Actions taken – follow-up
¾ FAO/OIE/WHO Technical Consultation on the Control of Avian Influenza 3 - 4 February 2004 Conclusions and recommendations
On 5 February 2004, the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO) with the assistance of some 25 experts from different organizations, institutes, and governments made a series of recommendations regarding HPAI control after the two-day meeting. The recommendations are as follows:
1. Animal and human health and rural livelihoods be taken into consideration when developing control and restructuring programmes 2. Public education and veterinary training, and national and regional capacity building be an important part of the development of long term surveillance and control of HPAI and other priority diseases 3. Control programs be immediately intensified and monitored 4. Each country establish a co-ordination centre such as a national avian influenza task force, to which medical and veterinary authorities report and discuss surveillance and control information 5. Measures including stamping-out, elevated biosecurity, vaccination and monitoring are important tools in control and eradication of infection in poultry 6. Improvement of surveillance and transparent and timely reporting of infection by the Veterinary Administration be required at national, regional and international levels 7. Extensive international coordination should be established for short and long term control of influenza viruses of human and animal health significance. 8. Donor support be urgently requested for control programmes that include relevant technical and institutional capacity building. 9. A Regional Emergency Meeting in the Asian Region be convened to support uptake and implementation of the recommendations, with FAO taking a lead role in co- ordination of field programmes, and in co-operation with OIE and WHO. 10. Collaborative research efforts, with interdisciplinary, international partnerships be supported to address the gaps in knowledge and tools required in the control of human and animal infection with avian influenza viruses, particularly in the area of vaccines, diagnostic tests, and epidemiology, particularly the role of domestic and wild animal hosts.
Full text, including: Current situation; Origins of the epidemic; Control and Eradication Strategies; Human Health issues including Food Safety; Rehabilitation; re- stocking and reorganisation of the sector, is available on FAO website: http://www.fao.org/newsroom/common/ecg/36647_en_experts.pdf
¾ Technical meeting:
Joint FAO/OIE/WHO tripartite meeting - 4-5 February 2004, FAO Headquarters - The yearly tripartite FAO/OIE/WHO meeting focused on "The Global Framework for the Control of Transboundary Diseases (GF-TADs)", the joint FAO/OIE initiative.
Joint FAO/OIE/WHO regional meeting in Bangkok (26-28 February) – a joint FAO/OIE/WHO regional meeting is planned in Bangkok to strengthen the coordination of control programmes.
¾ Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP) projects:
4 Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004
FAO Technical Cooperation Projects (TCP) for Viet Nam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, China and Pakistan has been approved in principle this week by the Director General of FAO and are now operational. In response to the request for assistance to control the spread of HPAI, Regional TCPs are in preparation and will focus on emergency control of the disease, regional networking, epidemiology and rehabilitation.
¾ Missions carried out /planned:
- Carolyn Benigno, FAO RAP (Bangkok) Animal Health Officer, mission to Lao PDR 29-1/02/2004, Viet Nam and Thailand
- P. Roeder, FAO EMPRES Animal Health Officer (Virology). Mission to Pakistan 21/01/2004 - 1/02/2004
- L. Gleeson, Australia Animal Health Laboratory, CSIRO, international expert in epidemiology, is expected to travel to the region from the 7 February.
- International experts are currently being identified and will travel soon to affected countries
4. Avian Influenza Questions and Answers (full text available on the AGA Web site)
Q: HPAI in Asia; is there a Regional solution?
Of course, in the current, fluid situation there is the urgency to stop the further spread of HPAI and revert to the situation of a more manageable level of incidence. As a next step, it will be important to reflect on the factors in the Asian poultry sector that led to this problem, and the health issues associated with further poultry sector development…The importance of the smallholder sector must be taken into consideration - how to incorporate this important dimension of economic opportunity, where poultry form an integral part of sometimes complex agro-ecological systems vital to rural livelihood...migratory birds, virus reservoirs and the poultry feed, production, processing and marketing circuitry, each span across the Region… The HPAI crisis serves to indicate the need for a veterinary surveillance framework for early warning of disease risk at regional level, which should serve the needs of the agricultural and medical communities of the region, and the wider international community…
More information is now available on: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/health/diseases-cards/avian_qa.html#5
5. Related issues
Small Holders (source: Production economics affected - small to medium-scale poultry producers in South Asia/ Emmanuelle Guerne Bleich, Animal Production Officer, AGAP)
Introduction: The intensive commercial producers are better placed to withstand the shock of the epidemic and rebuild their industry. The poorer farmers and small to medium-scale poultry producers will be the hardest hit and the least able to recover from the crisis. Both the direct and indirect effects of the crisis will have a devastating impact
5 Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004 on the livelihoods of both the resource poor households who kept poultry in household flocks as well as the small to medium-scale commercial producers. In Thailand poultry owning smallholders are the most affected by the crisis as they own 30% of the number of chickens and represent 97% of the number of holdings. Investigation and assessment of the impact of disease in these smallholders system will be a very difficult task, for example in Thailand they represent some 3 million households. (AGAP)
Table 1. Farm Size by Livestocks Animal in Thailand Number Percentage Share in Number of chickens Percentage Share in Number of holdings of chickens 1978 1988 1993 1998 1978 1988 1993 1998 in holding 1-19 n.a. n.a. 9.15 10.15 69.30 69.77 64.24 61.35 20-99 n.a. n.a. 16.91 20.15 30.00 29.11 33.00 36.09 100-499 n.a. n.a. 4.80 4.96 0.53 0.84 2.03 1.99 500-999 n.a. n.a. 1.54 1.00 0.05 0.15 0.08 1,000- n.a. n.a. 29.11 31.16 0.09 0.28 0.50 0.42 9,999 10,000 and n.a. n.a. 38.49 32.58 0.03 0.09 0.06 over Total n.a. n.a. 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 (percent) Total (no. of chickens 54,157,000 86,679,292 154,921,930 169,102,499 2,638,000 3,249,177 2,617,412 3,174,410 & farms) Sources: 1) 1988 Intercensal survey of agriculture by the National Statistical Office 2) 1993 Agricultural survey by the National Statistical Office 3) 1998 Intercensal survey of agriculture by the National Statistical Office
Reports from the field:
Field Report-Viet Nam (from: Jens Peter Tang Dalsgaard, Senior Adviser (Danida), ASPS-Small Livestock Component; MARD B9, Room 405/6, No.2 Ngoc Ha Street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, Viet Nam)
The situation in general and about the impact on smallholders in particular is difficult to get a clear picture of the problem in a country with millions of smallholders, extension and veterinary services over-loaded and erratic information flow. What is certain is that all farmers are affected either directly (diseased/deceased birds) or indirectly (plummeting poultry prices and loss of income). Earlier this week local transport of poultry was banned, so it clearly means incomes lost due to loss of assets (birds) as well as market closure.
Further information including field report on Viet Nam, China and its Taiwan province will be available on the next issue.
6. Resources available
Relevant articles/publications:
¾ The use of vaccination as an option for the control of Avian Influenza (I. Capua, S Marango) – 71st OIE General Session (May 2003).
¾ FAO/EMPRES Manual on procedure for disease eradication by stamping out (Available at: http://www.fao.org//DOCREP/004/Y0660E/Y0660E00.HTM)
6 Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004
¾ FAO AIDE News (Vol. 1, 2, 3) (Available at: http://www.fao.org/ag/AGA/AGAH/EMPRES/index.asp)
Relevant Web sites:
FAO Avian Influenza fact sheet: http://www.fao.org/ag/againfo/subjects/en/health/diseases-cards/avian.html
OIE web site: http://www.oie.int/eng/en_index.htm
OIE Technical Disease Cards: http://www.oie.int/eng/maladies/fiches/a_A150.htm
WHO Avian influenza frequently asked questions web site: http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/avian_faqs/en/
WHO Advice to international travellers: http://www.who.int/csr/don/2004_01_26/en/
EU Public Health web site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/health/ph_threats/com/Influenza/influenza_en.htm
Contact person at FAO:
Vincent Martin (FAO Headquarters – Rome) [email protected]
Hans Wagner (FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (RAP) - Bangkok) [email protected]
Supervision and Coordination J. Domenech, Chief, Animal Health Service (FAO Headquarters – Rome) [email protected]
7 Avian Influenza technical Task Force, FAO – Rome 09/02/2004
Appendix
- Control strategies currently in implementation - Source of information: OIE official reports, press releases, media reports, gphin. country Control measures Korea - Stamping out - Import ban - Movement control - Quarantine - No vaccination - Screening - Surveillance - Disinfection - Zoning
Viet Nam - Modified stamping out - Quarantine - Movement control - Screening - Control of wildlife reservoirs
Japan - stamping out - Import ban - Movement control - Quarantine - No vaccination - Disinfection - Surveillance - Screening - vaccine bank planed
Taiwan province of China - Stamping out - Import ban
Thailand - Stamping out - Quarantine - Movement control - Screening - No Vaccination - Zoning - Daily reporting - Compensation planned
Cambodia - Stamping out - Disinfection - Movement control - Quarantine
Hong Kong, SAR - Vaccination - Import ban - Surveillance
China - Stamping out - Import ban - Vaccination - Disinfection - Movement control - Market control - Vehicle check points - Quarantine - compensation planned
Lao, PDR - Stamping out - Import ban - Movement control - Quarantine - Surveillance
Pakistan - Stamping out - Import ban - Movement control - Quarantine - Vaccination - Zoning - Control wild reservoirs
Indonesia - Modified stamping out - Quarantine - Movement control - Zoning - vaccination - surveillance
United States of America - Stamping out - Import ban - Movement control - Quarantine - Surveillance
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