The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently signed an agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) with the aim of increasing international collaborative and coordination efforts on a broad range of agricultural issues, including animal diseases and in particular avian influenza. The short-term goal of this agreement is improve the global response to the highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza (H5N1). The USDA has been focussing its efforts concerning avian influenza on the areas of wild bird monitoring, domestic poultry monitoring, and avian influenza research.
This agreement will enhance the effectiveness of the Rome-based Crisis Management Center operated by the FAO and the World Organization for Animal Health. The goal of the Crisis Management Center is to coordinate international efforts to prevent and contain animal diseases, as well to collect and analyze statistics on animal disease. An international workshop held in Washington was held to prepare volunteers from more than 15 countries for rapid international deployment to combat avian influenza.
