[…] President Barack Obama announced in September 2009 that the United States is acting aggressively to confront the spread of the pandemic 2009-H1N1 influenza and will make as much as 10 percent of our H1N1 vaccine supply available to other countries through the World Health Organization (WHO). The United States is taking this action in concert with many other donor countries. We will provide the H1N1 vaccine to WHO on a rolling basis as vaccine supplies become available, to assist countries without direct access to the vaccine.

[…] For the first time in 18 months, our manufacturing sector has expanded, and the statistics used to measure manufacturing output is the highest it's been in over two years. This means greater production of transportation equipment like cars, and electronic equipment like computers and appliances, and it means these companies are starting to invest more and produce more, and it is a sign that we're on the path to economic recovery.

[…] Around the world today, governments, international and regional organizations and financial institutions, animal and human health experts, research institutions, emergency responders and many others have come together in an unprecedented way to bolster disease surveillance, outbreak assessment, preparedness, response and containment — and for the first time in history to ready nations in advance of a possible pandemic.

[…] The world is about 40 percent prepared to grapple with the social, economic and political impacts of an influenza pandemic, according to a U.N. official involved in the international effort. The estimate is based on an analysis in the Fourth Global Progress Report on Responses to Avian Influenza and State of Pandemic Readiness, released October 21 by the United Nations and the World Bank.

[…] Most emerging infectious diseases are zoonoses — animal diseases that can be transmitted to people — and most zoonoses arise from wildlife, so anywhere in the world that wild animals and people interact, a new disease can enter the human population.

Diseases that have entered the human population this way include HIV/AIDS, severe acute respiratory syndrome and highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu.

[…] “Newly developed international health mechanisms have resulted in a coordinated global approach [to avian flu and other infectious disease threats],” Paula Dobriansky, under secretary of state for democracy and global affairs and head of the U.S. delegation, told attendees October 25. “International focus on the twin threats,” she added, “both from the spread of avian influenza in domestic and migratory birds but also from a possible viral mutation that would cause a potentially devastating human pandemic, has led to action worldwide.”

[…] Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt: With the announcement of a new pledge of $320 million for avian and pandemic influenza assistance, U.S. support to international organizations and to more than 90 countries now totals $949 million. Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, announced the U.S. pledge today at the International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

[…] The Ministry of Health in Egypt, one of six countries where highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has become well-established, has worked to slash the time it takes for avian flu victims to be treated, giving Egypt the lowest fatality rate for H5N1 of any affected nation in the world. Since 2003, some 387 people in 15 countries have been infected by H5N1.

[…] The International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, which will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, is a collaboration among the Egyptian government, the European Union and the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza. The meeting also has support from the U.S. government, the European Commission and the United Nations system, including the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

[…] “In 2008 (up to the end of May),” the report reads, “12 countries/territories had notified the reoccurrence of [highly pathogenic avian influenza] subtype H5N1 following its previous eradication, thus indicating that the virus is continuing to circulate.” No other epizootic -- an epidemic among animals -- has lasted so long, OIE said in the report, or spread so far, so fast. But H5N1 is not the only avian flu virus subtype that could pose a long-term threat to birds and people.