Forestalling the Coming Pandemic: Infectious Disease Surveillance Overseas

Due to the evolving nature of infectious diseases, environmental changes, and the easiness of global travel, the nature of newly emerging disease is increasingly transnational and is disproportionately zoonotic (diseases that can be transmitted to humans). Thus, we need to detect not only emerging disease, but zoonotic disease outbreaks, which depend on establishing effective new partnerships between disciplines, institutions, and nations. There are a number of executive branch agencies with programs in place to help developing countries monitor the outbreak of infectious disease and to provide the U.S. with early warning of potential public health emergencies. These programs were most recently reviewed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). This hearing will examine the results of the GAO report, assess the effectiveness of the U.S.-funded programs to assist other countries in monitoring emerging infectious disease and how those programs help the U.S. provide early warning of imminent public health threats, and work being done by the animal health community to identify emerging zoonotic disease.