Cablegate: Ecuador: H1n1 Update

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RUEHNL RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHRD RUEHRS RUEHSL RUEHTRO
DE RUEHQT #0043 0271808
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R 271808Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY QUITO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0697
INFO ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA

UNCLAS QUITO 000043

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CASC AMED KFLU ECON EAID ETRD
SUBJECT: Ecuador: H1N1 Update

1. As of January 22, there were 2,251 cases of H1N1 reported in
Ecuador, with 96 confirmed fatalities. The first H1N1 infection in
Ecuador was recorded in May of 2009, and roughly 70% of the
reported cases have affected people between the ages of one and 29.
The disease is concentrated primarily in Ecuador's two most
populous provinces: Pichincha, a largely mountainous province that
includes the capital Quito, and Guayas, home of Ecuador's largest
city of Guayaquil. The virus has also made its way into the more
remote areas of eastern Ecuador, but poor reporting has made it
difficult to gauge the severity of the problem. The Ministry of
Health (MOH) believes the disease is now endemic within Quito and
Guayaquil. The MOH believes H1N1 poses a low to moderate threat to
the population. Although reporting standards vary between
countries in the region, the available data suggest that the impact
of H1N1 in Ecuador has been roughly on par with other Andean
nations.

Confirmed deaths per million people (per www.flucount.org)

Ecuador 6.84

Colombia 4.35

Peru 7.14

Bolivia 5.98

United States 35.28

Mexico 8.66

Government Action and Press

2. Recent efforts to combat the virus in Ecuador have been mostly
confined to limited quarantine efforts and the targeted provision
of anti-viral medication. The Government of Ecuador (GOE) has a
website to educate citizens about H1N1, disseminate flu-related
information, and inform health providers of the protocols for
patients with flu symptoms (http://www.msp.gov.ec). A new
laboratory recently opened in Quito to speed testing in the
northern provinces; prior to December 2009 the only way to confirm
H1N1 was to send samples to Guayaquil for lab work. Ecuador is
currently waiting on a shipment of roughly 900,000 vaccine doses
from the Pan American Health Organization for allotment to
high-risk groups -- pregnant women, the chronically ill, and the
obese -- expected in the first quarter of 2010. The vaccine was
originally scheduled to arrive in November, and the MOH is
currently planning for the final week of February/first week of
March. Vaccine distribution todate has been essentially
non-existent.

3. Media coverage of the H1N1 pandemic was common in the second
and third quarters of 2009, peaking when President Correa's Chief
of Security, Col. John Merino, died in September 2009 after a month
of sickness. Ecuador's new Foreign Minister, Ricardo PatiC1o, who
used to work at the Presidency, also became sick and was
hospitalized in August 2009. Since then the focus on H1N1 has
diminished. Press citations generally focus on the uncertainty
surrounding the arrival date of the H1N1 vaccine.

Vaccine available at the Embassy

4. Embassy Quito received approximately 300 doses of H1N1 vaccine
January 12. The H1N1 nasal spray and injection are available for
U.S. direct-hire employees, their families aged 6 months and above,
and LES staff. Todate approximately 100 doses of the vaccine have
been administered.
HODGES

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