September 20, 2006

"Interagency and international coordination is critical to our efforts to mitigate animal diseases such as high path avian influenza, recognizing that diseases do not respect borders or boundaries."

"Recently, USDA established an International Coordination Group and committed $19.5 million to combat avian influenza worldwide, in collaboration with USG partners, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health, and countries that request USDA's resources."

"The upcoming launch of a new Crisis Management Center in Rome demonstrates the value of this collaboration. The center represents a significant milestone towards a veterinary infrastructure that is sustainable, systematic and robust enough to help safeguard world agriculture and animal health."