Louisiana health officials report first US death from bird flu
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Key takeaways:
- The first bird flu-related death in the U.S. occurred in a 65-year-old patient with underlying conditions.
- Health officials consider the threat of bird flu to the general public to be low.
A person hospitalized last month with the first case of severe bird flu in the United States has died, Louisiana health officials announced Monday.
It was the first U.S. death related to highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
“The patient was over the age of 65 and was reported to have underlying medical conditions,” the department said in a press release. “The patient contracted H5N1 after exposure to a combination of non-commercial backyard flock and wild birds.”
The CDC confirmed in December that the patient in Louisiana was the first person in the U.S. to have a severe case of H5N1. It remains the only human case of H5N1 reported in the state, official said.
According to the CDC, as of Jan. 3, there have been 66 confirmed human cases of bird flu in the U.S., including 40 originating from contact with dairy herds, 23 related to poultry farms or poultry culling efforts and two from an unknown exposure. The patient in Louisiana was the first case linked to exposure to a backyard flock.
Although there has been no evidence of person-to-person transmission, the NIH said in late December that the spread of H5N1 through wild birds and poultry, dairy farms and other animals — millions of animals have been affected — raises concerns that the virus could mutate and more easily infect humans.
The CDC and NIH both have said that the threat of bird flu to the general public remains low.
References:
- CDC. Avian influenza (bird flu): H5 bird flu: Current situation. https://www.cdc.gov/bird-flu/situation-summary/index.html. Updated Jan. 3, 2025. Accessed Jan. 6, 2025.
- CDC confirms first severe case of H5N1 bird flu in the United States. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/m1218-h5n1-flu.html. Published Dec. 18, 2024. Accessed Jan. 6, 2025.
- LDH reports first U.S. H5N1-related human death. https://ldh.la.gov/news/H5N1-death. Published Jan. 6, 2025. Accessed Jan. 6, 2025,
- NIH officials assess threat of H5N1. https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-officials-assess-threat-h5n1. Published Dec. 31, 2024. Accessed Jan. 6, 2024.
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