The current outbreak of a highly pathogenic form of avian flu, known as H5N1, that has spread to 11 Asian countries challenges the region, and the world, to look deeply into the underlying causes of disease emergence in order to develop scientific, regulatory, and commercial solutions. New response mechanisms are evolving quickly to offset the underlying forces that are driving disease emergence. But the successful implementation of these solutions will require the cooperation of stakeholders across an extraordinarily diverse spectrum, including national and local governments, major agricultural companies, wildlife veterinarians, international development and public health agencies, and the biotechnology industry, to name just a few. Among the mechanisms and approaches now being advanced or considered are the following:

The current avian flu crisis poses new challenges for the poultry industry, the economies of the affected countries and, potentially, for human health. According to Klaus Stöhr, a senior virologist at the World Health Organization, “Never in history have we seen such outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza over such a wide area, simultaneously.” The question now in the minds of many in both industry and government is: Has the world changed in such a way as to make regional or even global disease emergence events as last year’s SARS outbreak and this year’s avian flu crisis more likely? Finding the answer and creating solutions will require new, broader and deeper approaches to understanding both biological systems and economic value chains.