Immunocompetent

Stashed away in a somewhat obscure corner of the .mil webzone are an interesting set of H5N1 reports. Prepared about every week by the US Pacific Command (PACOM) and the Australian Army's Land Headquarters (LHQ), the reports summarize recent developments with H5N1 with an interesting twist.  Who they are prepared for isn't clear; but Immunocompetent thinks they look like a slide that goes into scheduled briefing for higher-ups somewhere on the military food chain, probably at the Office of the US Secretary of Defense, on whose website the files can be found.

We have some choice extracts below; but there's plenty more interesting reading that you can download. (And if the OSD "disappears" this information off its website, we have a complete archival copy.)

The reports, marked "unclassified", provide abbreviated updates H5N1 cases worldwide; but they are more interesting for what they select as newsworthy H5N1 politics.

Recently, PACOM has been very interested in the NAMRU-2 negotiation and the WHO PIP IGM, and the reports have included information not public elsewhere.  For instance, details on conversations between WHO staff and US government representatives, and on the (apparently failed) bilaterals between Indonesia and the US. (These were facilitated by Australia.)

The reports, at least recent ones, appear to be prepared by Air Force Lt. Colonel Peter Breed, who was recently listed as the PACOM's Chief of Force Health Protection. PACOM is headquartered in Hawaii.

There is no direct publicly-accessible URL to see a listing of these reports (it appears to be only available to people in the .mil and .gov domains).  Instead, if you have construct a Google search that will hit them.  This search works pretty well.

In short, the reports offer an interesting view into Bird Flu According to The Pentagon. And they show just how closely the US (and Australian) military are following H5N1 issues. Here are some recent extracts:

31 October 2008:
CEO of Indonesia’s National Committee for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Control (KOMNAS), reportedly told French officials that the “successful” GOI-USG negotiations,” facilitated by Australia, could lead to an end of the sample-sharing impasse at December’s WHO Intergovernmental Meeting.

24 October 2008:
Indonesia: Legal proceedings against the USG and WHO brought in April 2008, alleging responsibility for the death of an Indonesian from H5N1 have again been postponed. As a result of internal debate, the court further postponed a decision regarding the proceedings until perhaps mid-December.

26 September 2008:
Indonesia: (1) NAMRU-2 laboratory will be temporarily shut down because it offers "little benefit" to Indonesia said the GOI’s MOH. Negotiations between the USG and GOI are ongoing. U.S. HHS Secretary said Indonesia's refusal to share its samples of the H5N1 virus with the rest of the world has spilled into the NAMRU talks. (2) USDEL in Manila reported in conference calls September 21 and 22 that the two delegations, in discussions facilitated by Australia, made progress in reviewing a U.S.-drafted notional materials transfer agreement (MTA) text, as well as a text on Terms of Reference (TORs) for the WHO influenza surveillance network provided by Indonesia

19 September 2008:
Indonesia: The next round of consultations involving Indonesia, the U.S., and the WHO Intergovernmental Meeting Chair (Australia) on sample and benefit sharing is scheduled for September 21-22 in Manila. USG will draft a human influenza virus model Materials Transfer Agreement for discussion in Manila.

12 September 2008:
(2) MOH recently claimed that developed countries are creating new viruses that are meant to infect people in poorer nations in order to help drug companies sell more vaccines.

...

WHO Assistant Director-General David Heymann spoke with Special Rep Lange today about the November Intergovernmental Meeting on Pandemic Influenza Preparedness. Based on his conversations, Heymann expects that developing countries will seek recognition of some kind of “viral sovereignty" and will agree to continue sharing human influenza virus samples only in return for “sustainable” benefits (i.e., some system by which developing country access to benefits, such as vaccine stockpiles, is guaranteed over the long term).

29 August 2008
India/Bangladesh: The bird flu virus, that caused India's worst AI outbreak, has been found to be "a lot similar" to the one in that cause havoc in Bangladesh. However, we can't say that Bangladesh was the cause of the outbreak. Sources said India complained to FAO and OIE about Bangladesh's slack handling to contain the virus, putting at risk India's internal security.

Indonesia: GOI authorities are now reporting possible human AI cases to the WHO within 24 hours in compliance with the International Health Regulations. WHO does not report Indonesian cases until the GOI MOH announces them, on a monthly basis. However, if there are international public health risks, WHO will report it with or without GOI permission.

18 July 2008:
Indonesia: A WHO official confirmed to Embassy Jakarta on 16 July that the GOI had reported a new, confirmed human AI fatality: a 38-year old male resident of Tangerang municipality died on 10 July. A WHO representative told Embassy Jakarta that Health Minister Supari had assured him that Indonesia would comply with the Health Regulations by notifying WHO of fatalities.

11 July 2008:
Indonesia:(1) MOA “temporarily”bans import of U.S. poultry.  Poultry “treated to inactivate the avian influenza virus”is exempt, if it can pass a “risk analysis”and is approved by MOA.  (2) Australian Authorities have sought clarification of Indonesia’s policy on reporting human cases of avian influenza to the WHO.  A senior Australian official has said that Indonesia’s management of avian influenza is severely deficient.

3 July 2008
Indonesia: GOI and USG plan to meet in Australia, 25-28 July 08, to discuss next steps toward resolving sample sharing issue.

20 June 2008:
Reporting of these 2 cases demonstrates that Minister Supari is somewhat cooperate with WHO, but reporting not done within 24hr International Health Regulation requirement agreed to by the 193 member states of WHO.

22 May 2008:
Indonesia:(1) Virus sequence (genome) sharing with pubic database but no actual virus isolate sharing & proposed pay-for-virus system unacceptable to WHO.

29 February 2008:
Indonesia:Clarification on last week’s sample shipping report: US CDC confirms 15 samples, all came from 2 cases, a mother/daughtboth still alive; samples received without MTA or other restriction

18 January 2008:
GoI has reached tentative deal with Iran to co-produce bird flu vaccines, MoH says Iran has an advanced pharmaceutical industry, capable of producing bird flu vaccines using Indonesian virus.