Surveillance and Response to Avian and Pandemic Influenza by National Health Authorities Outside the United States

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The purpose of this FOA is to support foreign governments through their Ministries of Health or other responsible Ministries for human health or public-health emergency preparedness in to improve their capacity to conduct routine influenza surveillance and detect and respond to pandemic influenza. Approximately $4,000,000 is available for approximately 10 awards under this announcement, with an average award of $400,000. Proposals should build upon infrastructure already in place. Preference will go to countries with limited resources, where influenza surveillance is not well-established, and which have identified needs to enhance pandemic preparedness and surveillance for influenza, including novel strains, in animals or humans, or are judged at-risk of such outbreaks by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the World Health Organization (WHO) Secretariat. The principal intent of this assistance is to support routine influenza surveillance and build capacity to respond to and contain highly pathogenic viruses transmissible among humans. A second intent is to support the development of epidemiologic, virologic, and related capacity to detect, respond to, and monitor changes in influenza viruses, as well as identify outbreaks of severe respiratory illness syndromes. A third intent is to help strengthen the connections between national institutions in different countries, especially National Influenza Centers, to more fully participate in the WHO Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS), and become more capable of sharing specimens and clinical and epidemiologic data on disease related to the circulation of influenza in more countries. This program is in alignment with the HHS Pandemic Influenza Operational Plan and the President’s National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, the principles of the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza, and the following performance goal for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD): Protect Americans from infectious diseases.

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