Leavitt said the administration was working to develop a domestic surveillance system in hospital emergency rooms that would give public health officials an early warning in the event that the avian flu or any another health threat were to strike.

He said the priority would be to contain avian flu at the point of outbreak. If it reached the United States, he said, quarantine was possible.

On other topics, Leavitt said:

—He does not believe President Bush will change his position against expanding research on embryonic stem cells, even if Congress approves a bill that calls for it.

"It's a moral decision with him," Leavitt said. "I've seen no wavering on his part at all."

Asked whether he favored an expansion, Leavitt said, "I'm very comfortable with the president's decision."

—He supports Congress' proposal to slow Medicaid's growth by $10 billion over five years. He said the reduction is designed to sustain the program rather than dismantle it. The reduction means that Medicaid would grow at a rate of 7.2 percent rather than 7.4 percent.

Leavitt, a former governor of Utah, said states need flexibility to change the program. "It's an insane system in that it requires permission to do the obvious," he said.

—His department would monitor the content of prescription drug ads "very carefully" even if the pharmaceutical industry enacted voluntary guidelines on advertising.

"Information is good," Leavitt said. "Misinformation is bad. We have the authority already to enforce limits when people are misleading, and we will use it."

—He would not involve himself in the Food and Drug Administration's upcoming decision on whether to allow over-the-counter sales of Plan B, the morning-after pill.

"I've found that I don't have to express every opinion that I have," he said.

As part of a deal to get Dr. Lester Crawford confirmed to head the FDA, the agency pledged that it would have a decision on the morning-after pill by Sept. 1.

—He is confident of the safety of the nation's food supply.

He said officials are on alert after the discovery of mad cow disease — bovine spongiform encephalopathy — in U.S. cows but they are optimistic the threat is slight because diseased meat never entered the food supply.

There are two confirmed cases. Testing is being done on tissue from a third suspected case.