The recent H5N1 avian influenza outbreak in the USA has sparked fresh fears of avian viruses causing the next pandemic. To date, the H5N1 (clade 2.3.4.4b) outbreak in cattle has spread across several states in the USA, with several humans infected following exposure to cows. This H5N1 clade is also reportedly circulating across Europe, Africa, and South America. There are no licenced vaccines against avian influenza viruses for humans and vaccines which aim to protect against seasonal H1N1 and H3N2 variants are unlikely to provide much protect against the different H5 or other avian viruses. CD8+ T cells are known to provide protection against viral infections. CD8+ T cells are also known to be protective against influenza viruses, enhancing viral control and decreasing disease severity. We recently compiled and published a list of the known immunogenic influenza -derived CD8+ T cell epitopes restricted to the most prevalent 10 HLA-A, -B and -C molecules worldwide. Using this list, we assessed the conservation of these influenza A virus-derived CD8+ T cell epitopes in 239 consensus H5N1 viruses’ sequences at the heart of the H5N1 outbreak in the USA. We identified that >60% of the CD8+ T cell epitopes are highly conserved (>90% sequence identity) in the H5N1 viruses, with 60% (18/30) of the most prevalent HLA-I molecules have at least one immunogenic CD8+ T cell epitope conserved in H5N1 viruses. Together these HLA-I molecules with conserved epitopes have a cumulative total of >100% global coverage. Epitopes derived from the PB2, NP, M1, NS1 and PB1 proteins displaying the highest level of conservation. Together, this analysis highlight that globally there is T cell cross-recognition against the H5N1 viruses that should provide protection in humans towards the current avian flu outbreak.