The United States has recorded its first human death due to the avian influenza A or H5N1 virus in a patient from Louisiana. According to the Health Department, the patient was hospitalized in December with a severe case of the highly pathogenic bird flu. Doctors said the unnamed patient contracted the virus after coming into contact with non-commercial backyard flocks and wild birds.
It was the first human case of bird flu-linked this type of exposure and the first instance of severe illness from H5N1 in the US. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 66 human cases of H5N1 have been confirmed across most states in the country since 2024. The vast majority of those affected have been farm workers who were exposed to commercial poultry or dairy cattle, and cases have been mild.
Most were treated with flu antivirals and fully recovered. H5N1 is not new, as it spreads naturally among wild birds and has caused outbreaks in poultry and sporadic human cases since the late 1990s. The patient, who "was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions," Louisiana health officials announced in a statement, tested positive for the virus and developed severe illness after exposure to wild birds and a personal backyard poultry flock that was infested with H5N1.
No other human cases have been identified in the state. “CDC has carefully studied the available information about the person who died in Louisiana and continues to assess that th.
