II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1912 

To establish a global network for avian influenza surveillance among wild 

birds nationally and internationally to combat the growing threat of 

bird flu, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 24, 2005 

Mr. LIEBERMAN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish a global network for avian influenza surveillance 

among wild birds nationally and internationally to combat the growing threat of bird flu, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Global Network for 

5 Avian Influenza Surveillance Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 
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1 (1) the ongoing panzootic of highly pathogenic 

2 avian influenza strain H5N1 in Asia and Eurasia is 

3 a threat to global human health and the global poul4 try industry; 

5 (2) the HPAI virus is capable of causing mas6 sive avian die-offs, and response can easily involve 

7 the culling of tens of millions of domestic poultry or 

8 domestic waterfowl, resulting in significant economic 

9 losses; 

10 (3) the fatality rate due to infection in humans 

11 may be 30 to 50 percent or more; 

12 (4) recent outbreaks in 2005 of H5N1 in water13 fowl in western China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Roma14 nia, and Turkey suggest that the virus may have en15 tered the Central Asian Flyway and may con16 sequently spread throughout central and southern 

17 Asia, Europe, and Africa, as well as spanning the 

18 Arctic to reach North America; 

19 (5) it has long been known that wild birds are 

20 a reservoir host for avian influenza viruses world21 wide; 

22 (6) the 1918 pandemic, the most lethal of the 

23 3 pandemics that killed over 40,000,000 people 

24 worldwide, was caused by an influenza virus that ini25 tially jumped directly from birds to humans and sub-
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1 sequently evolved an ability to transmit from 

2 human-to-human; 

3 (7) this precedent for an avian influenza virus 

4 to transmit directly from birds to humans, then 

5 spread among humans, significantly raises the con6 cern about the current H5N1 influenza strain; 

7 (8) increased surveillance, including on migra8 tory birds, is critical to controlling avian influenza; 

9 (9) the capacity to proactively detect the 

10 threats could result in significantly improved disease 

11 prediction and prevention capabilities; 

12 (10) international wildlife health surveillance 

13 does not clearly fall under the jurisdiction of any 

14 Federal or international agency; 

15 (11) there is a continued inability to share real16 time data across the human, agricultural, wildlife, 

17 and veterinary agencies on zoonotic threats; 

18 (12) while surveillance at domestic poultry and 

19 domestic waterfowl production facilities and farms is 

20 an immediate and on-going monitoring need and is 

21 being supported through relevant agencies, surveil22 lance in wild bird populations that may have been 

23 exposed to the virus has now become a critical com24 ponent to determine the spread of the virus, imple-
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1 ment control measures, and protect human, live2 stock, and wildlife health; 

3 (13) monitoring and surveillance of wild migra4 tory and resident water birds are critically important 

5 to identifying all strains of influenza viruses in wild 

6 birds as a library of possible genotypes, determining 

7 their role in spread of the virus, and anticipating 

8 where outbreaks may occur to enhance preparedness; 

9 and 

10 (14) improving surveillance of wildlife health 

11 around the world would close significant jurisdic12 tional and scientific gaps in current global influenza 

13 preparedness. 

14 SEC. 3. PURPOSE. 

15 The purpose of this Act is to establish a Global Net16 work for Avian Influenza Surveillance— 

17 (1) to more rapidly and efficiently detect, 

18 verify, and report on the presence of infectious dis19 eases, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, in 

20 migratory birds and resident waterfowl around the 

21 world; 

22 (2) to use information on viral strains found 

23 during surveillance of wild birds to better delineate 

24 any mutations in the virus that may be detectable 

25 within wild bird populations; 
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1 (3) to use information on when and where 

2 HPAI and other pathogens of concern are identified 

3 in migratory birds— 

4 (A) to better guide preparedness in the 

5 United States and around the world; and 

6 (B) to carry out a comprehensive migra7 tory bird disease surveillance initiative that will 

8 provide regions, countries, and specific locations 

9 with early warning information that will help 

10 target resources toward enhancement of poultry 

11 biosecurity and surveillance, heightened public 

12 health vigilance, and related areas; 

13 (4) to create an open access database within 

14 which information on HPAI and other pathogens of 

15 interest identified in migratory birds can be shared 

16 as close to real time as possible; 

17 (5) to protect the health and safety of United 

18 States citizens and officials traveling or living 

19 abroad; and 

20 (6) to protect the economic interests of the 

21 United States and its partners from threats to 

22 health, agriculture, and natural resources. 

23 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 

24 In this Act: 
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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘eligi2 ble organization’’ means a nongovernmental wildlife 

3 conservation organization chartered in the United 

4 States with— 

5 (A) extensive global wildlife health experi6 ence in tracking disease in wild birds, including 

7 free-ranging, captive, and wild bird species; 

8 (B) proven ability in identifying avian in9 fluenza in wild birds; and 

10 (C) accredited zoological facilities in the 

11 United States. 

12 (2) GNAIS.—The term ‘‘GNAIS’’ means the 

13 Global Network for Avian Influenza Surveillance es14 tablished under section 5(a). 

15 (3) GNAIS PARTNERS.—The term ‘‘GNAIS 

16 partners’’ means the partners of the GNAIS de17 scribed in section 5(c). 

18 (4) HPAI.—The term ‘‘HPAI’’ means highly 

19 pathogenic avian influenza. 

20 (5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

21 the Secretary of Health and Human Services, act22 ing— 

23 (A) through the Influenza Branch of the 

24 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 

25 and 
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1 (B) in partnership with an eligible organi2 zation. 

3 SEC. 5. GLOBAL NETWORK FOR AVIAN INFLUENZA SUR4 VEILLANCE. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days after 

6 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall offer 

7 to enter into a contract with 1 or more eligible organiza8 tions to establish a Global Network for Avian Influenza 

9 Surveillance. 

10 (b) PARTNERS.—In administering the GNAIS, the 

11 Secretary and the eligible organization shall collaborate 

12 with appropriate— 

13 (1) Federal and State agency partners, includ14 ing— 

15 (A) the Department of Agriculture, acting 

16 through— 

17 (i) the Agricultural Research Service; 

18 and 

19 (ii) the Animal and Plant Health In20 spection Service; 

21 (B) the Department of the Interior, acting 

22 through— 

23 (i) the United States Geological Sur24 vey; and 
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1 (ii) the United States Fish and Wild2 life Service; and 

3 (C) various State wildlife agencies in the 

4 United States; 

5 (2) multilateral agency partners, including— 

6 (A) the Food and Agriculture Organiza7 tion; 

8 (B) the World Health Organization; 

9 (C) the Office International des Epizooties, 

10 the world animal health organization; and 

11 (D) the World Conservation Union; 

12 (3) conservation organizations with expertise in 

13 international and domestic bird monitoring and sur14 veillance; 

15 (4) accredited colleges of veterinary medicine; 

16 and 

17 (5) other national and international partners, 

18 as necessary. 

19 (c) INTERNATIONAL SURVEILLANCE.—The eligible 

20 organization, in coordination with the Influenza Branch 

21 of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shall 

22 manage an international surveillance program under 

23 which Federal GNAIS partners shall, and non-Federal 

24 GNAIS partners are encouraged to— 
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1 (1) monitor and test for the presence or arrival 

2 of avian influenza and other significant avian patho3 gens at important bird areas around the world and 

4 in marketplaces with intense trade in wild birds; 

5 (2) use trained professionals to collect samples 

6 and other data and send samples to appropriate di7 agnostic centers; 

8 (3) use the GNAIS, in partnership with rel9 evant agencies and organizations, for conducting— 

10 (A) disease surveillance activities on migra11 tory birds worldwide; 

12 (B) domestic and international field inves13 tigations on migratory birds; 

14 (C) training and capacity-building activi15 ties related to the relationships between human 

16 health, domestic animal health, and wildlife 

17 health; and 

18 (D) research on methods and approaches 

19 for detection and enhanced surveillance of 

20 HPAI and other pathogens in migratory birds; 

21 and 

22 (4) send samples for avian influenza testing to 

23 certified laboratories that— 

24 (A) meet internationally established meth25 ods standards; 
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1 (B) are located at— 

2 (i) the Influenza Branch of the Cen3 ters for Disease Control and Prevention; 

4 (ii) the Office International des 

5 Epizooties, the world animal health organi6 zation; 

7 (iii) the Food and Agriculture Organi8 zation; 

9 (iv) National Veterinary Services Lab10 oratories of the Department of Agriculture; 

11 or 

12 (v) the Agricultural Research Service; 

13 and 

14 (C) report the findings back to the eligible 

15 organization and GNAIS partners. 

16 (d) NETWORK.— 

17 (1) PARTNERS.—Federal GNAIS partners 

18 shall, and non-Federal GNAIS partners are encour19 aged to, transmit information related to global dis20 tribution and characteristics of avian influenza to 

21 the Secretary acting through the eligible organiza22 tion. 

23 (2) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary, acting 

24 through the eligible organization, shall— 
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1 (A) use surveillance reports and other for2 mal and informal sources of information to 

3 identify and investigate local disease outbreaks 

4 of avian influenza, in coordination with GNAIS 

5 partners; 

6 (B) develop a long-term baseline of re7 gional data related to HPAI and pathogens in 

8 migratory birds for analysis between and across 

9 sites to create a system to identify when and 

10 where outbreaks might occur and paths of dis11 persal; 

12 (C) provide technical assistance for disease 

13 prevention and control programs based on sci14 entific understanding of the relationships be15 tween wildlife health, domestic animal health, 

16 and human health; 

17 (D) provide analytical disease findings reg18 ularly to the Influenza Branch of the Centers 

19 for Disease Control and Prevention and other 

20 Federal GNAIS partners to prevent or combat 

21 human diseases; 

22 (E) conduct other activities as are nec23 essary to support the GNAIS network and 

24 GNAIS partners; and 
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1 (F) coordinate GNAIS surveillance results 

2 at the headquarters of the eligible organization. 

3 (e) DATABASE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

5 through the eligible organization, shall manage, 

6 map, and make available on a database on the Inter7 net all results and information gathered under this 

8 Act. 

9 (2) REQUIREMENTS.—The database shall— 

10 (A) provide geographic data on wild bird 

11 populations and the movements of the popu12 lations and laboratory test results; and 

13 (B) be available for viewing by any Federal 

14 agency, foreign country, multilateral institution, 

15 organization, or individual. 

16 (f) TRAINING.—The Secretary shall request accred17 ited colleges of veterinary medicine and other GNAIS 

18 partners to train members of the GNAIS network to— 

19 (1) monitor important bird areas around the 

20 world; and 

21 (2) test for the presence or arrival of avian in22 fluenza and other significant avian pathogens of 

23 zoonotic concern. 
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1 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2006 through 

4 2010. 

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