ESCMID Global Conference 2026

ESCMID Global Conference 2026: Bird flu is no longer just for birds: from strategic planning to public health readiness

This session was proposed on behalf of the ISIRV Epidemiology Group and the ESCMID Study Group for Respiratory Viruses (ESGREV) in collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and includes participation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Chairs:

Barbara  Rath (Berlin, Germany)

Edoardo Colzani (Solna, Sweden)

What drives pandemic risk? Virus, population and policy factors influencing Influenza H5N1 spread
Benjamin Cowling (Hong-Kong Sar, China)

Surveillance in action: diagnostic tools for early detection of zoonotic influenza human infections
Kanta Subbarao (Quebec City, Canada))

Zoonotic influenza: from signals to public health response actions
Angeliki Melidou (Stockholm, Sweden)

Antivirals and vaccines: readiness for a future influenza pandemic
Marco Cavaleri (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Your session type :2-hour Educational Session

Two-hour session: 4 presentations of 20’ each (no Q&A) + 40’ panel discussion, 4 speakers, 2 chairpersons

Educational sessions contain review talks and/or case studies that lend themselves to discussions. The goal of this format is education while focusing on core topics in clinical microbiology and infectious diseases. Individual talks should be complementary and cohesive within the session. Educational sessions can also involve case discussions and be interactive (e.g. via polling).

View the preliminary program and register for ESCMID Global 2026