[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 138 (Friday, July 18, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42733-42734]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-18241]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[Program Announcement 03158]


Cooperative Agreement for Plague Clinical Trials With The Uganda 
Virus Research Institute; Notice of Intent To Fund Single Eligibility 
Award

A. Purpose

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
intent to fund fiscal year (FY) 2003 funds for a cooperative agreement 
program to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Gentamicin and 
other antibiotics for the treatment of human plague, to evaluate newly 
available rapid dipstick tests for diagnosis of human plague, and to 
develop a long-term collaboration between the CDC and Uganda Health 
Authorities in the area of plague research and prevention. The Catalog 
of Federal Domestic Assistance number for this program is 93.283.

B. Eligible Applicant

    Assistance will be provided only to the Uganda Virus Research 
Institute. No other applications are solicited. UVRI is the most 
appropriate and qualified agency to conduct the activities specified 
under this cooperative agreement for the following reasons:
    [sbull] CDC Uganda is located at the UVRI facility.
    [sbull] UVRI is a government agency within the Uganda Ministry of 
Health. It is the principal agency tasked with surveillance, research, 
and control of infectious diseases such as plague.
    [sbull] UVRI is responsible for carrying out all national 
surveillance and prevention programs for plague, as well as organizing 
community awareness programs, health education, and education of 
medical professionals on plague.
    [sbull] UVRI has established collaborations with the District 
Health Authorities, individual physicians and healthcare workers in 
plague-endemic areas. They currently maintain a laboratory facility in 
the West Nile Region of Uganda, which is endemic for plague.
    [sbull] UVRI is the only organization that has the existing 
laboratory capacity to carry out large-scale national public health 
interventions and to conduct plague research. They have the required

[[Page 42734]]

field experience and demonstrated capacity in areas directly related to 
all principal objectives of this proposed program: (1) Identification 
of cases of plague through clinic-based surveillance in areas with a 
high incidence of plague; (2) systematically evaluate optimal treatment 
regimens while ensuring patient safety; (3) evaluate the performance of 
newly available rapid tests for the diagnosis of plague under field 
conditions, and (4) confirm the diagnosis of suspected plague using 
state of the art laboratory techniques.
    [sbull] UVRI has a history of successful collaborations with CDC on 
large and complicated health research projects, particularly in the 
areas of HIV/AIDS and vector-borne infectious diseases over the years.

C. Funding

    Approximately $150,000 is available in FY 2003 to fund this award. 
It is expected that the award will begin on or before August 1, and 
will be made for a 12-month budget period within a project period of up 
to five years. Funding estimates may change.

D. Where To Obtain Additional Information

    For general comments or questions about this announcement, contact: 
Technical Information Management, CDC Procurement and Grants Office, 
2920 Brandywine Road, Atlanta, GA 30341-4146, Telephone: 770-488-2700.
    For technical questions about this program, contact: Jacob Kool, 
MD, Ph.D., Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National 
Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, Rampart Road (Foothills Campus), Fort Collins, CO 80521, 
Telephone: 970-266-3540, E-mail: [email protected].

    Dated: July 11, 2003.
Edward Schultz,
Acting Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 03-18241 Filed 7-17-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P