Summary

Description

The ability to efficiently control the spread of a highly infectious, exotic, viral disease, is dependent upon the capacity to rapidly detect the pathogen if introduced. The goal of the U.S. Interagency Plan is to describe the essential components of a unified national system for the early detection of Asian H5N1HPAI in migratory birds. Data collected throughout the country in accordance with the plans guidelines will be assimilated into a national database for use by all local, state, regional and national agencies, organizations, and policy makers. The data collection system focuses on the detection of H5N1 in wild, migratory birds. Effective implementation of this National Detection System will depend on decentralized planning and execution at regional, state and local levels for success, combined with centralized coordination to ensure national level analysis of surveillance data for rapid risk assessment. A shared central database will increase information critical to the understanding of the ecology of AI viruses and their transmission among wildlife, domestic livestock, and humans. Birds will be sampled whenever possible in conjunction with existing studies. Additional bird captures and sampling for H5N1 will be broadened to provide a wide spectrum of species and more comprehensive geographic surveillance effort.