 Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Texas will be in the first round of voluntary participation, and other states are likely to follow. Eric Diebel, acting senior advisor for H5N1 Response, says, quote, this list of participating states is just the beginning. It's important for us to get these four states going so the other states could watch how the program works and gain additional confidence in the idea. He also says the agency is in close conversations with about a dozen other states who are very interested in participating. Launching the pilot program is a, quote, important step forward.