The potential human epidemic threat posed by the outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among dairy cattle in the United States is “increasing daily”, says influenza expert Dr Rick Bright, and should prompt global health security and research organisations to take “concrete steps” to get ahead.

Speaking at the Global Pandemic Preparedness Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Dr Bright—who was formerly head of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and is currently working with CEPI’s preparedness and response experts—described the H5N1 outbreak in domesticated mammals and poultry as “unprecedented”.

“The alarm bells are going off,” he said. “And some people want to hit snooze, but others want to take concrete actions to be ready to make sure that we can respond in an equitable way when this takes off.”