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Follows California, Illinois, Colorado, and New York City’s entry into same transnational WHO outbreak coordination system.

Governor Bob Ferguson announced this month that Washington State is now part of the World Health Organization Global Outbreak and Response Network (GOARN), an international syndicate of “public health agencies, national governments, academic centers, laboratories, and response organizations focused on rapidly detecting and responding to public health emergencies,” according to a press release from the Washington State Nurses Association (WSNA).

Washington joins California, Illinois, Colorado, and New York City by entering GOARN.

According to WSNA, Washington’s public health leaders will fall in line with the WHO’s:

• global outbreak early-warning alerts, meaning real-time surveillance tied into an international detection system
• technical collaboration and support during major public health events, meaning coordinated response across jurisdictions
• international training, exercises, and best-practice exchanges, meaning standardized response protocols
• and coordinated outbreak response support, meaning integrated deployment during declared emergencies.

Congress has already confirmed that the WHO’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic “was an abject failure” and that the WHO’s “newest effort to solve the problems exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic — via a “Pandemic Treaty” — may harm the United States.”

This means Washington’s decision comes despite federal findings that the WHO mismanaged the last pandemic and is advancing new agreements that could expand its influence over future responses.

You can contact Gov. Ferguson’s office here to voice your opposition to Washington’s integration into a WHO-linked outbreak surveillance and response system and demand accountability for aligning state public health infrastructure with failed global coordination mechanisms.

Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson (Governor.WA.gov)

In the governor’s press release, Washington State Secretary of Health Dennis Worsham cited avian influenza (“bird flu”) in justifying the move:

“Disease outbreaks don’t stop at state or national borders, and our ability to protect people in Washington shouldn’t either,” Washington State Secretary of Health Dennis Worsham said. “Joining GOARN ensures we maintain access to critical global outbreak intelligence and stay connected to leading public health experts, even as federal relationships change. We’re not waiting for the next threat — we’re preparing for it. From COVID-19 to rising measles cases and avian influenza, we’ve seen how quickly diseases can spread. Through GOARN, we can detect risks earlier, respond faster and better protect people in our communities — while also contributing Washington’s expertise to global response efforts.”

The development comes as bird flu is being framed internationally as an imminent threat while laboratory manipulation of the virus continues, vaccines are developed in parallel, and global, federal, and state systems are aligned to respond.

This is the same sequence of surveillance, lab work, and countermeasure rollout that preceded the COVID-19 pandemic.