Secretary Leavitt Leads High-Level Delegation to Asia

HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt (center), CDC Director Julie Gerberding (left), WHO Director-General Jong-wook Lee, and NIH NIAID Director Anthony Fauci (far right) speak with the press following a visit to a large chicken farm in Thailand.

October 12, 2005 - In an effort to improve international cooperation and coordination in the fight against avian flu, Secretary Michael Leavitt has embarked on a visit to Southeast Asia. The trip, which began on October 8, will take Secretary Leavitt, World Health Organization Director-General Jong-Wook Lee, and a high-level U.S. delegation to several countries in the region. The group's mission is to meet and work firsthand with global partners to help stem the possibility of an avian flu pandemic, and to visit and assess U.S.-supported programs on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

The avian flu, which originated in Asia, has thus far spread to at least 10 countries. Over 150 million domestic birds in Asia have been destroyed, and the economic losses are of major proportions not only for individual farmers, but also for nations. Concern is growing that the migratory wild birds that sweep over China, Russia, and Kazakhstan are dying and may be carrying the virus. This flu, also known as H5N1, is a deadly disease for humans, and thus far it has killed nearly half of those whom it infects, often within days. It is even more ominous that although previous flu pandemics have occurred repeatedly throughout recorded health, few people will have immunity to this strain of the virus.

The delegation planned to ask governments and civil society leaders in Asia to pledge their critical involvement and personal commitment to prepare against and respond to the threat of pandemic influenza. Formal and working meetings with government officials have been supplemented by trips to isolated locations and family farms where poultry live in close proximity to people, as well as to the “wet markets,” where people buy freshly killed poultry and animals. This trip will allow health experts to see firsthand the challenge of treating avian flu in these countries.

Secretary Leavitt believes international cooperation is the key to protecting the lives and health of the American people. Real time information about potential outbreaks of avian flu is critical, and governments must commit to complete transparency in the reporting of influenza cases in humans and animals. Epidemiological data and samples must be promptly shared with the WHO and the international community, and international teams of scientists must be granted entry into countries at the first signs of accelerated transmission of H5N1 and other highly pathogenic influenza strains so outbreaks can be quickly contained.

Avian flu is an American priority. U.S. President George W. Bush announced a new International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza when he addressed the 2005 United Nations General Assembly in mid-September. Secretary Leavitt stresses that while the U.S. Pandemic Flu Plan is about to be released, it may be that immediate and effective assistance as well as close coordination with the people and leaders of affected countries will tip the balance in terms of stopping the flu before it spreads. Prompt action must therefore be taken, and the Secretary's trip to Asia is just one step toward achieving the type of international cooperation required to avoid a flu pandemic.

Last revised: October 16, 2007