US - FAO's commitment to fight emerging disease threats in "hotspot" regions worldwide is getting a boost with new funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the UN agency has announced.
The funding, totalling more than $20 million, will support the ongoing US-FAO partnership against H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and a widening focus on potential emerging pandemic threats.
The continuing threat of bird flu
The US assistance will help strengthen preparedness and response to HPAI in Southeast Asia and bolster laboratory and surveillance capacities in hotspot areas. The majority of the funding will support activities in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Viet Nam, which continue to experience outbreaks of H5N1 HPAI in poultry as well as cases in humans, some fatal.
The continuing threat of bird flu
The US assistance will help strengthen preparedness and response to HPAI in Southeast Asia and bolster laboratory and surveillance capacities in hotspot areas. The majority of the funding will support activities in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Viet Nam, which continue to experience outbreaks of H5N1 HPAI in poultry as well as cases in humans, some fatal.
Due to the speed with which animal-origin pathogens such as H5N1, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2002-2003 and the H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, caused by a virus that had combined elements of avian, swine and human origin, USAID launched its "Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) programme.
