1.This Act may be cited as the
Wildlife Global Animal Information
Network for Surveillance Act
or Wildlife GAINS Act
.
2.Congress finds that—
(1)the ongoing
panzootic of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) strain H5N1 in Asia and
Eurasia is a threat to global human health and the global poultry
industry;
(2)the HPAI virus is
capable of causing massive avian die-offs, and response can easily involve the
culling of tens of millions of domestic poultry or domestic waterfowl,
resulting in significant economic losses;
(3)the fatality rate
due to infection in humans may be 30 to 50 percent or more;
(4)it
has long been known that wild birds are a reservoir host for avian influenza
viruses worldwide;
(5)the
1918 pandemic, the most lethal of the three pandemics that killed over
40,000,000 people worldwide, was caused by an influenza virus that initially
jumped directly from birds to humans and subsequently evolved an ability to
transmit from human-to-human;
(6)this precedent for
an avian influenza virus to transmit directly from birds to humans, then spread
among humans, significantly raises the concern about the current H5N1 influenza
strain;
(7)increased
surveillance, including on migratory birds, is critical to controlling avian
influenza and preparing for other potential emerging infectious
diseases;
(8)the capacity to
proactively detect the threats could result in significantly improved disease
prediction and prevention capabilities;
(9)international
wildlife health surveillance does not clearly fall under the jurisdiction of
any Federal or international agency;
(10)there is a
continued inability to share real-time data across the human, agricultural,
wildlife, and veterinary agencies on zoonotic threats;
(11)while
surveillance at domestic poultry and domestic waterfowl production facilities
and farms is an immediate and on-going monitoring need and is being supported
through relevant agencies, surveillance in wild bird populations that may have
been exposed to the virus is a critical component to determine the spread of
the virus, implement control measures, and protect human, livestock, and
wildlife health;
(12)monitoring and
surveillance of wild migratory and resident water birds are critically
important to identifying all strains of influenza viruses in wild birds as a
library of possible genotypes, determining their role in the spread of the
virus, and anticipating where outbreaks may occur to enhance
preparedness;
(13)improving
surveillance of wildlife health around the world would close significant
jurisdictional and scientific gaps in current emerging infectious disease
preparedness;
(14)other emerging
diseases beyond bird flu merit similar attention, in terms of the potential
threats to global public health as well as agribiosecurity and
biodiversity;
(15)the majority of
emerging infectious diseases identified in the past several decades have moved
from wildlife to humans, largely due to human incursions into or alterations of
wildlife habitats and hunting, consumption, and trade of wildlife
species;
(16)the human
immunodeficiency virus (HIV) virus moved from chimpanzees to humans via these
mechanisms;
(17)many factors
contribute to disease emergence and spread from wildlife to domestic animals
and humans, including environmental degradation and the handling, consumption,
and trade of wildlife and wildlife-derived products;
(18)from avian influenza to the severe acute
respiratory syndrome (SARS), from bovine tuberculosis to the Ebola virus, and
from HIV/AIDS to monkey pox, a long list of zoonotic diseases negatively
impacts people’s lives and livelihoods and costs the global economy billions of
dollars; and
(19)the Government of
the United States lacks a comprehensive program to monitor wildlife health
around the world, a program that could proactively inform preparedness not just
in the case of a potential H5N1 influenza strain pandemic, but also for a
broader array of emerging infectious disease threats that often arise at the
interface between wildlife, humans, and their domestic animals.
3.The purposes of this Act are to establish
and maintain a Wildlife Global Animal Information Network for
Surveillance—
(1)to more rapidly
and efficiently detect, verify, and report on the presence of infectious
diseases, such as highly pathogenic avian influenza, in birds and other
wildlife around the world;
(2)to use information
on pathogens found during surveillance of wildlife to better delineate
potential threats to domestic animals, humans, as well as wildlife
itself;
(3)to
use information on when and where HPAI and other pathogens of concern are
identified in wildlife—
(A)to better guide
preparedness in the United States and around the world; and
(B)to carry out a
strategic wildlife health surveillance initiative that will provide regions,
countries, and specific locations with early warning information that will help
target resources toward enhancement of agribiosecurity, surveillance, public
health vigilance, and related areas;
(4)to create an open
access database within which information on HPAI and other pathogens of
interest identified in wild birds and other wildlife can be shared as close to
real time as possible;
(5)to protect the
health and safety of United States citizens and officials traveling or living
abroad; and
(6)to protect the
economic interests of the United States and its partners from threats to
health, agriculture, and natural resources, including wildlife itself.
4.In this Act:
(1)The
term Administrator means the Administrator of the United States
Agency for International Development, acting through one or more eligible
organizations.
(2)The term eligible organization means an
organization chartered in the United States with—
(A)extensive global
wildlife health experience in tracking disease in wild birds and other
wildlife, including free-ranging, captive, and wild bird species;
(B)proven ability in
identifying avian influenza, Ebola virus, and other pathogens in wild birds or
other wildlife;
(C)experience
managing and implementing similar wildlife surveillance activities; and
(D)accredited
zoological facilities in the United States.
(3)The
term HPAI means highly pathogenic avian influenza.
(4)The term Wildlife
GAINS means the Wildlife Global Animal Information Network for
Surveillance established under section 5(a).
(5)The term Wildlife GAINS partners means the
partners of the Wildlife GAINS described in section 5(b).
5.Wildlife Global
Animal Information Network for Surveillance
(a)Authorization of
assistanceThe Administrator,
acting through one or more eligible organizations, is authorized to establish
and maintain a program to implement a Wildlife Global Animal Information
Network for Surveillance.
(b)In
administering the Wildlife GAINS, the Administrator shall collaborate with
appropriate—
(1)Federal and State
agency partners, including—
(A)the Department of
Agriculture, acting through—
(i)the
Agricultural Research Service; and
(ii)the
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service;
(B)the Department of
Health and Human Services, acting through the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention;
(C)the Department of
Homeland Security;
(D)the Department of
Defense;
(E)the Department of
the Interior, acting through—
(i)the
United States Geological Survey; and
(ii)the
United States Fish and Wildlife Service; and
(F)various State
wildlife agencies in the United States;
(2)multilateral
agency partners, including—
(A)the Food and
Agriculture Organization;
(B)the World Health
Organization;
(C)the Office
International des Epizooties, the world animal health organization; and
(D)the World
Conservation Union;
(3)conservation
organizations with expertise in international and domestic wildlife monitoring
and surveillance;
(4)accredited
colleges of veterinary medicine and medicine; and
(5)other national and
international partners, as necessary.
(c)International
SurveillanceThe Administrator shall manage an international
surveillance program under which Federal Wildlife GAINS partners shall, and
non-Federal Wildlife GAINS partners are encouraged to—
(1)monitor and test
for the presence or arrival of avian influenza and other significant avian
pathogens at important bird areas around the world and in marketplaces with
intense trade in wild birds;
(2)monitor and test
for the presence or arrival of other significant pathogens in free-ranging
wildlife and in places with intense trade in wild animals;
(3)use trained
professionals to collect samples and other data and send samples to appropriate
diagnostic centers;
(4)use the Wildlife
GAINS, in partnership with relevant agencies and organizations, for
conducting—
(A)disease
surveillance activities on migratory birds and other wildlife worldwide;
(B)domestic and
international field investigations on migratory birds and other
wildlife;
(C)training and
capacity-building activities related to the relationships between human health,
domestic animal health, and wildlife health; and
(D)research on methods
and approaches for detection and enhanced surveillance of HPAI and other
pathogens in migratory birds and other wildlife; and
(5)send samples for
pathogen identification and testing to certified laboratories that—
(A)meet
internationally established methods standards;
(B)are located
at—
(i)the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
(ii)the
Office International des Epizooties, the world animal health
organization;
(iii)the Food and
Agriculture Organization;
(iv)National
Veterinary Services Laboratories of the Department of Agriculture;
(v)the
Agricultural Research Service; or
(vi)other relevant
specialized laboratories; and
(C)report the findings
back to the Administrator and Wildlife GAINS partners.
(d)
(1)The
Administrator shall require Federal Wildlife GAINS partners, and encourage
non-Federal Wildlife GAINS partners, to transmit to the Administrator
information related to global distribution and characteristics of significant
pathogens.
(2)The
Administrator shall—
(A)use surveillance
reports and other formal and informal sources of information to identify and
investigate local disease outbreaks of avian influenza and other infectious
diseases involving wildlife, in coordination with Wildlife GAINS
partners;
(B)develop a
long-term baseline of regional data related to HPAI and pathogens in migratory
birds and other wildlife for analysis between and across sites to create a
system to identify when and where outbreaks might occur and paths of
dispersal;
(C)provide technical
assistance for disease prevention and control programs based on scientific
understanding of the relationships between wildlife health, domestic animal
health, and human health;
(D)provide analytical
disease findings regularly to the United States Agency for International
Development and other Federal Wildlife GAINS partners to prevent or combat
human and animal diseases;
(E)conduct other
activities as are necessary to support the Wildlife GAINS network and Wildlife
GAINS partners; and
(F)coordinate Wildlife
GAINS surveillance results at the headquarters of the eligible
organization.
(e)
(1)The Administrator shall manage, map, and make available
on a database on the Internet all results and information gathered under this
Act.
(2)The
database shall—
(A)provide geographic
data on wildlife populations and the movements of the populations and
laboratory test results; and
(B)be available for
viewing by any Federal agency, foreign country, multilateral institution,
organization, or individual.
(f)The
Administrator shall request accredited colleges of veterinary medicine and
medicine and other Wildlife GAINS partners to train members of the Wildlife
GAINS network to—
(1)monitor important
wildlife areas around the world; and
(2)test for the
presence or arrival of avian influenza and other significant pathogens of
zoonotic concern or of concern to domestic or wild animals.
6.Authorization of
appropriationsThere is
authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act $10,000,000 for each of
fiscal years 2008 through 2012.