Global Avian Influenza Surveillance
And
Pandemic Preparedness

Joseph P. Dudley

Department of Earth Science, The University of Alaska Museum
Institute of Arctic Biology-University of Alaska Fairbanks
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC)

Pandemic preparedness and pandemic response plans based on the assumption that countries will be either able or willing to rapidly confirm and subsequently report outbreaks of dangerous diseases to the international community are unlikely to be successful under current conditions. Most countries have limited technical capacities for the rapid detection and diagnosis of disease outbreaks, and experience with outbreaks involving H5N1 and other economically-important human or animal diseases has demonstrated that suspected or confirmed outbreaks may not be reported either proactively or voluntarily in many situations.

In order for pandemic planning and response programs to be effective, we must enhance the effectiveness of global surveillance and monitoring networks for the H5N1 bird flu virus and other dangerous human-transmissible emerging disease pathogens, and increase the rapidity and efficiency with which we can detect and diagnose disease outbreaks that could be caused by pathogens or biological agents.

The observed lack of transparency and cooperation within and among many of the countries, international organizations, agencies, laboratories, and individuals involved with the surveillance, diagnosis, and reporting of bird flu in animal or human populations has been -- and continues to be –- a nearly insurmountable impediment to the effective control and eradication of the Asian bird flu virus. Without greater international cooperation and coordination of H5N1 surveillance and control efforts, we are unlikely to be able to prevent the further spread and proliferation of this pathogen throughout the remaining unaffected areas of Eurasia and Africa, or forestall its introduction and subsequent establishment in Australasia and the Americas.

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