WASHINGTON — Is Texas prepared for a pandemic flu? The answer was "yes" in testimony Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee on Capitol Hill.

Commissioner David Lakey of the Texas Department of State Health Services said lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita helped the state stockpile medicines and supplies.

Currently, he said, the state has respiratory surveillance systems tracking patients who come into hospital emergency rooms.

Lakey also boasted that Texas is able to diagnose patients who have influenza within three hours from initial tests.

He said there is one area for improvement, though. He'd like to see the state work more closely with Mexico to monitor the estimated one million people crossing the border every day.

"We've been working on influenza preparedness for several years in the state of Texas," Lakey said. "We've developed several plans that have been incorporated in the overall disaster plan in Texas. We've been working on how we distribute medicines when they're available. How we distribute vaccines, and how do we work with government to make sure essential operations continue."

Lakey also said Texas communicates with federal partners to monitor flu activity overseas and at home.

"We work with our pediatricians and other providers in the state to know how many cases of influenza they see. And we gather data from the laboratories so we know when there's culture-positive influenza in our community," he said.