The department is the lead agency for monitoring for mosquito-borne diseases in the State and determining the severity of the threat to the public health. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall create and maintain an arboviral illness surveillance, prevention and response plan for the purposes of alerting the public and other state, local and federal agencies about the existence of the threat so that appropriate actions may be taken. When available surveillance information indicates a strong likelihood of a human disease outbreak arising from mosquito-borne pathogens, the commissioner may declare a mosquito-borne disease public health threat in accordance with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention arboviral illness surveillance, prevention and response plan. For purposes of this section, the department shall collaborate with the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. [PL 2013, c. 548, §2 (NEW).]