Lt. Gov. John Cherry aided in the launch of a new state Web site on emerging diseases Dec. 16.

The new state-operated site, http://www.michigan.gov/emergingdiseases was a joint effort between the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Community Health, Michigan and U.S. Departments of Agriculture and MSU.

The site focuses on diseases that can pass from animals to humans. The site provides facts on Chronic Wasting disease, Bovine Tuberculosis, Lyme disease, West Nile Virus, and rabies.

There also is a section dedicated to lesser-known aliments, such as monkey pox and avian influenza.

Mary Dettloff, Cherry's spokesperson, said the creation of the site was to organize information that was once spread between different state departments. It was an effort to make it easier to access the information, she said. The new site is the only Web site on the State of Michigan's Web page that has multi-agency content.