Joe Lieberman: “It is. USAID and CDC have partnered with the Wildlife Conservation Society to establish the Wild Bird Global Avian…”

“It is. USAID and CDC have partnered with the Wildlife Conservation Society to establish the Wild Bird Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance or GAINS. GAINS is a smart and targeted investment in the U.S. Government's fight against avian flu. CDC and USAID are investing $6 million from fiscal year 2006 avian flu supplemental appropriations to establish GAINS. GAINS comprises 5 million conservation, wild bird, poultry, health, and vaccine experts and builds upon the robust international network of the Wildlife Conservation Society, or WCS, which through partnerships has presence in virtually every key country related to Avian Influenza--56 in all. The Wildlife Conservation Society, founded in 1895 and headquartered at the Bronx Zoo has a long history in the wild bird surveillance field around the world. They were the organization that first diagnosed West Nile virus when it arrived on U.S. shores, and the human avian flu vaccine we are currently working on is partially derived from wild migratory bird samples, WCS wild bird samples collected in Mongolia. Of course, the GAINS relates to robust sampling of wild birds--alive and dead--in the wild and in captivity, and even in markets, but most importantly GAINS will display the results of sampling on a user- friendly real time computerized data mapping system so that wherever you are in the world, public officials will be able to warn populations at risk and scientists will have a powerful tool to fight this virus.…”