Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
Global Conference to Focus on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, December 4-6
Ambassador John E. Lange, Special Representative on Avian and Pandemic Influenza at the Department of State, will lead
the U.S. delegation at a ministerial-level international conference in New Delhi December 4-6, 2007, to assess efforts
to confront the threat from the spread of avian influenza, and to prepare for a possible human pandemic.
The conference is being hosted by the Government of India in conjunction with the International Partnership on Avian and
Pandemic Influenza, and aims to increase assistance to countries facing the social and economic consequences of
widespread poultry losses and a potentially catastrophic influenza pandemic. The conference also will discuss plans to
build global capacity to deal with threats posed by the avian influenza virus, as well as other emerging infectious
diseases.
The U.S. delegation will include senior representatives of the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and
Human Services, the Department of Defense, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. All of these departments
and agencies have been actively engaged internationally through the U.S. National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza.
President George W. Bush launched the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in September 2005 and
the first major international conference took place in Washington, DC, the following month. Other major conferences on
the subject have been held in Beijing, China (January 2006), Vienna, Austria (June 2006), and Bamako, Mali (December
2006).
For further information on the U.S. international engagement on avian and pandemic influenza, see
http://www.state.gov/g/avianflu/ and www.pandemicflu.gov.
2007/1079
Released on December 3, 2007
ENDS