Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Hurricane Recovery, 2006 - Conference
EMERGENCY SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATIONS ACT FOR DEFENSE, THE GLOBAL WAR ON TERROR, AND HURRICANE RECOVERY, 2006--CONFERENCE -- (Senate - June 15, 2006)
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Mr. LIEBERMAN. Mr. President, I rise to acknowledge a tangible result of our Federal Government's investment in preparing for a possible flu pandemic. This week, the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society launched the Global Avian Influenza Network for the Surveillance of wild birds, or the GAINS program.
GAINS systematically tests and monitors wild and dead birds to identify the viral strains they carry, to share the virus samples in order to continually update vaccine production options, and to disseminate lab results on a map-based publicly accessible database. Major flyways around the world will be monitored including those running north-south through the Americas.
I wish to recognize Chairman COCHRAN from Mississippi and Senator BYRD from West Virginia, along with my colleagues, Senator HARKIN from Iowa, Senator SPECTER from Pennsylvania, and Senator BROWNBACK from Kansas, for their commitment to avian flu preparedness and for putting in place an effective system for the surveillance of wild birds. GAINS is instrumental to our capacity to prepare communities in the wake of wild birds moving with the virus for a potential outbreak.
At the same time we work to develop a vaccine and procure antivirals, we can also track the movement of the virus in wild birds. GAINS can track wild birds in the same way the National Hurricane Center tracks hurricanes. By analyzing, storing, and reporting using a real-time computerized data mapping system and interface, we can see the viral strains wild birds carry, where they are carrying the virus along migratory routes, and how the virus is genetically evolving. This will make it possible for us to develop vaccines more quickly using the most recent strain available and will help us warn vulnerable populations in wild bird flightpaths should the avian flu strain turn deadly.
I am happy to report that the GAINS program and Dr. William Karesh at the Wildlife Conservation Society have already contributed vital disease samples of the highly pathogenic H5Nl virus from Mongolian swans to the efforts currently under way to develop a human vaccine for avian influenza.
The Wildlife Conservation Society has partnered with USAID and the CDC to spearhead this effort. They are an international conservation organization headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York and have offices across the world, including my home State of Connecticut. With more than 3,000 full-time staff working in 60 countries around the world on more than 400 field conservation projects, the Wildlife Conservation Society is well positioned to lead the global efforts to monitor the disease in birds and provide key information to local communities to mitigate the effects of future outbreaks. Our Government's capacity to build partnerships such as this one and continue to fund them with nongovernmental organizations with tremendous expertise and others in the private sector is key to effectively fighting a potential pandemic.
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