MR. McCLELLAN: All right, good afternoon, everyone. You should have our copies of the implementation plan for the pandemic influenza, and I've got our Homeland Security Advisor with me today, Fran Townsend, to give you an overview of that and then take your questions on it. And with that, I'll just turn it over to Fran. MS. TOWNSEND: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. As you know, we -- the President has had us release today our implementation plan that relies on the national strategy for a pandemic influenza. The strategy was initially released in November of last year. And we assembled an interagency team led, on the Homeland Security Council side, by myself and Dr. Rajeev Venkayya, known to many of you. The team really assembled the best and brightest of health professionals throughout the interagency community, and we benefit from their expertise in the context of this report. I should make clear, from the outset, that we do not know whether the bird virus that we are seeing overseas will ever become human -- a human virus. And we cannot predict whether a human virus will lead to a pandemic. Moreover, there is no way to predict how severe a pandemic would be. In the plan, we describe a wide spectrum of severity, and we are candid that we should understand and prepare the worst-case scenario. This brings us to the next stage of our planning efforts. I have the privilege of releasing and describing to you the implementation plan that is relying on the strategy, as I've mentioned. As you know, the strategy was accompanied by a budget request the President transmitted to Congress for $7.1 billion to support his strategy. Shortly after we released it, as I mentioned, we assembled an interagency team of health professionals and experts. The plan that they wrote, the plan that we have assembled, is a road map that the U.S. government will follow to translate the principles of the President's strategy into tangible actions by all federal departments and agencies. The plan outlines how the federal government will invest the $7.1 billion that was requested from Congress, including $3.8 billion that has already been appropriated. This is not the beginning of our investment in pandemic preparedness. We have invested already over $6 billion in public health and medical infrastructure since 2001. Many of those investments are directly relevant to pandemic preparedness. The plan is a comprehensive one divided into chapters addressing major considerations raised by a pandemic influenza: protecting human health, protecting animal health, international considerations, border and transportation security, public safety and security considerations, and then planning for considerations of institutional organizations. Each chapter describes the relevant considerations, roles and responsibilities of federal and non-federal entities, the specific actions the departments and agencies will take to address the pandemic threat, and expectations of our non-federal partners in this effort. The plan contains over 300 specific actions for federal departments and agencies, because we think it is important to be able to measure and demonstrate the effectiveness of our efforts. Every one of the federal actions included in the plan included a measure of performance and a time line for implementation of that action. Given the size of the document, it is worth highlighting some of the priorities that we have identified, including advanced international capacity for early warning and response, limiting the arrival and spread of the pandemic to the United States, providing clear guidance to all stakeholders, and accelerating the development of countermeasures. We recognize that it is unusual for the government to provide this amount of detail about its plans, but we think it is essential to demonstrate to the rest of the world, our international partners, state and local governments, business, families, individuals, just how seriously we take this threat. The implementation plan devotes a full chapter to the United States government's response to a pandemic, and describes in detail the actions we will undertake at each stage before, during and after a pandemic. It describes the policy decisions that we will confront and make throughout the response, recognizing that many of these decisions cannot be undertaken until we know the characteristics of the actual pandemic virus, if and when one emerges. Finally, in Appendix A, we have offered practical advice to schools, elementary and university; business; private sector; families and individuals for them to consider in their preparations. While the federal government has many responsibilities here, we cannot forget that a pandemic occurs because of the spread of the virus from one person to another. This means that individual actions are perhaps the most important element of our preparedness and response activities. We depend on everyone outside of the government to take this as seriously as we do, and to put systems in place to reduce the transmission of infection, and to put plans in place that will mitigate the impact of a pandemic on human health and the functioning of our communities. We also believe that our partners outside of government will complement our approach, the approach that we are taking to pandemic preparedness. In addition to describing the actions we are taking, we provide a great deal of detail in the rationale behind our approach and our framework for future decision making. I'd like to take a moment to describe what the plan does not cover. It is important that -- to point out that there are things in the implementation -- that the implementation plan does not answer, and it is not intended to do so. For instance, it does not answer all the questions about vaccine and antiviral medication prioritization. We are actively discussing those issues across the government and incorporating the scientific epidemiologic and modeling data that is being developed in real time. Another example is the specific interventions that we will undertake at our borders and ports of entry to slow the entry of disease. We recognize that we cannot make these decisions in a vacuum, and must consult with our international partners to ensure that we adopt a consistent approach. It was impossible to capture in a plan of this type the full spectrum of planning that we have asked every department and agency to undertake. Those details are captured in department and agency specific plans which were completed in draft form on March 31st. And I would encourage you, to the extent you have questions about specific department or agency implementation plans, to direct your questions to them. The President has given clear direction to departments that their plans must show, first, how they are going to protect their employees and create a safe work environment; second, how they will identify and ensure continuity of operations at times of significant and sustained absenteeism; third, how they will support the overall federal response to a pandemic and undertake actions contained in the plan; and fourth, how they will communicate pandemic preparedness and response guidance to their stakeholders -- public, private, state, and local governments. The administration takes this threat seriously. And therefore, the actions contained within this plan -- we take the actions contained in this plan seriously, which is the reason that we have assigned performance measures and aggressive time frames. No one should leave with the impression that this work is only beginning today. Many of these actions began weeks or months ago. In some cases, we have already made -- seen remarkable performance and results despite laying out very aggressive measures for action. For instance, one of the actions in the plan is to expand the Medical Reserve Corps, a community-based program of volunteer health and medical providers, by 20 percent. That meant from 350 to 420 chapters in 2006. That objective was placed in the draft plan early in 2006, and the Medical Reserve Corps has already achieved it. You will see additional concrete examples of progress in the coming weeks, including advancement in our vaccine efforts, which represent the foundation of our pandemic preparedness; translation of the recent modeling efforts to strategies for states and localities to protect their citizens during a pandemic; additional pandemic preparedness guidance for businesses, critical infrastructure providers, families, and individuals; expansion of a new office at the Department of State, the Avian Influenza Action Group, an interagency body that can rapidly gather information and deploy cross-government personnel, material and other capabilities to assess and respond to any international situation of concern. These are just a few examples of the additional progress you can expect to see. We intend to track the implementation of action contained in this plan through the Homeland Security Council. And at the end of Chapter Two, you will find additional examples of actions we have already undertaken. This will be a dynamic process. We intend to update and revise the implementation plan on a regular basis as our preparedness, the state of technology, and our understanding of the threat evolves. Congress has appropriated the first $3.8 billion of the $7.1 billion requested and necessary to support these efforts. We will work with Congress to secure the remainder of the necessary funds, including $2.3 billion in fiscal year '07 and an additional $1 billion in fiscal year '08, to achieve the objectives in international health surveillance and containment efforts, medical stockpiles, the domestic capacity to produce emergency supplies of pandemic vaccine and antiviral medications, and preparedness at all levels of government. As you can see, we have taken an unprecedented level of activity to address this threat. But let me say a few words about the threat. First of all, a human pandemic has not begun, and we cannot say whether or not a pandemic will begin. Right now, it is relatively difficult for the current bird influenza virus to infect humans. Despite a widespread outbreak, the virus has only infected 205 people, and killed 113 of those infected. However, it is possible that if the virus undergoes genetic changes, it could signal the start of a human pandemic. Given the pattern of history, which suggests that bird flu viruses played a role in pandemics over the past century, we cannot ignore the possibility that this virus could evolve into one that infects and is transmitted to humans. At present, scientists believe that there is a risk, that the virus is more likely to be acquired and be transmitted between human in areas where there is widespread outbreaks of virus and birds, and significant contact between infected animals and humans. These are the current circumstances in many parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. If this develops into a circumstance where there is efficient human-to human transmission, we will take immediate action to prevent or to slow the spread of the infection, including entry and exit screening, restrictions on movement across borders, and consider the rapid deployment of antiviral medications in coordination with our international partners. The key elements of an international response effort include, first, agreed epidemiological triggers for international response and containment, the rapid transparent reporting and sharing of samples, rapid response teams, stockpiles of countermeasures and logistical support for an international response. Minimizing the opportunities for the virus to mutate, and helping other nations to prepare should a pandemic virus emerge is a global responsibility, and is also the first line of defense for the United States. The U.S. has pledged $334 million to strengthen preparedness, response and containment abroad. We are working bilaterally with nations and also helping to improve the capacity of the World Health Organization and other international partners to lead the international response efforts. To highlight the importance of this issue to international governments, in September of 2005, at the U.N. General Assembly, the President launched the International Partnership on Avian and Pandemic Influenza to heighten awareness of the threat and to work to establish resources that will help prevent, detect, and limit the spread of animal and human pandemic influenza within and between national borders. We will have to act fast to see if evidence that the virus is evolving into one that presents a greater danger to humans -- in other words, we cannot afford to be complacent. But rest assured, our investment now, regardless of whether there is a human pandemic based on the current avian flu, will serve to strengthen and better protect the American people not only from pandemic flu, but from bioterror and other public health emergencies. While the human pandemic threat is unpredictable, the spread of influenza in birds is predictable. Nearly 20 countries have identified the virus in their bird populations since the start of February of this year. In addition, in 2006, the virus has been identified on two new continents -- Europe and Africa. It is possible, in fact likely, that the virus will appear in our wild bird population this year. As we speak, scientists are examining birds that have migrated to the U.S. from Asia and Europe to gain early warning of its arrival. It is critically important for me to point out that the arrival of avian flu in our wild bird population will not necessarily represent a risk to our domestic poultry population. The poultry industry has excellent biosecurity practices in place that limit or nearly eliminate the likelihood of contact between poultry, wild poultry -- between domestic poultry and wild bird populations. The industry is also constantly on the lookout for any new infections in their bird populations, whether an avian influenza virus or something else. And when they find something -- and this has happened several times in the past with different viruses -- they take swift action to eradicate the infection. Even if the avian flu virus were to make its way to our domestic poultry population, we can say with confidence that the risk to human health is exceedingly low, as long as people follow the usual practice of thoroughly cooking poultry before eating it. Secretaries Johanns and Leavitt have spent a lot of time explaining what it means to have the virus here in birds, and the limited risk that poses to human health. It is a message worth repeating. We are not in the midst of a human pandemic, but we cannot predict when one will happen. This is why it is important for everyone to prepare. If the H5N1 avian bird flu virus appears in birds, it will not signify the start of a human pandemic, and will not necessarily represent a threat to our domestic poultry population. No matter what happens, properly cooked poultry kills the virus and eliminates the risk to human health. I hope that I've been able to provide you sort of with an overview and some insight into our thinking, and the effort that went into drafting the report. And I look forward to taking your questions.

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