‘Critical’ funding comes as H5N1 outbreak intensifies and will go toward developing a response to the virus

The Biden administration, in its waning days, is allocating $306m to respond to public health threats from bird flu, a move applauded by public health experts as the H5N1 outbreak continues to expand among people and animals in the US.

As the outbreak intensifies, the US should continue investing in pandemic response like wastewater monitoring, vaccine manufacturing and distribution, rapid test development and other pressing needs to curtail the outbreak, experts say.