US To Award $306 Million To Monitor H5N1 Avian Flu And Aid Local Preparedness

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that its willingness to award $306 million in funds to aid in monitoring bird flu, as the virus spreads in dairy herds and farm workers across the country.

The country in December reported its first severe human case of bird flu in a Louisiana resident, who was hospitalized in a critical condition after suspected contact with an infected backyard flock.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 61 human cases nationally since April, mostly in workers on dairy farms where the virus infected cattle, although it noted that bird flu still represents a low risk to the general public.

"While the risk to humans remains low, we are always preparing for any possible scenario that could arise," informed HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra.

The U.S. Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response will award about $183 million in funding towards state-oriented, regional and local programmes of hospital preparedness and pathogen treatment centers, among others.

The CDC will award about $111 million to help monitor the disease as well as manufacture, store and distribute additional influenza diagnostic test kits for surveillance.

The National Institutes of Health will award about $11 million for additional research into potential medicines for the disease.