Joe Lieberman: “I rise to acknowledge a tangible result of our Federal Government's investment in preparing for a possible flu pandemic.…”

“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.…”