Dr. Gerald Parker has been appointed to lead the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy.  Dr. Parker, a veterinarian has three decades of experience in the federal government dealing with global health issues, security and pandemic preparedness.  He has worked with the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Homeland Security in both Democratic and Republican administrations.  He was previously the Commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.  His most recent appointment was as Associate Dean for Global One Health at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Previously EGG-NEWS reported on a decision to stockpile 50 million doses of H5N1 vaccine to protect humans and federal grants to biopharmaceutical companies to develop an mRNA vaccine that could be rapidly manufactured and administered in the event of an H5N1 epidemic.